•I 


/ 


OF  GALIF.  L»RARY.  LOS  AN 


LEAVES 
FROM  A  DIARY 


—A— 


TRAMP  AROUND  THE  WORLD 


—  B  Y  — 


, 

SAM  T.   CLOVER. 


"With  much  good  will  the  motion  -'.'as  embraced 
To  chat  awhile  on  their  adventures  fass'd." 


CHICAGO. 

M.  D.  KIMBALL,  PUBLISHER, 

170  MADISOX  STREET. 

i8S«. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1884, 

BY  SAM  T.  CLOVER, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washing-ton,  D.  C. 


2128941 


LEAVES  FROM  A  DIARY. 


A  TRAMP  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 


FIRST  EXTRACT. 

Fifteen  hundred  miles  from  home,  a  total 
stranger  in  a  strange  city,  and  with  finances  com- 
pletely exhausted,  is  not  an  enviable  situation  to  be 
in;  but  that  was  my  position  exactly,  on  a  certain 
day  in  September  some  two  or  three  years  ago. 

I   had  been    in  Denver  about   a  week,  having 
arrived  there  one  dismal  rainy  day,  after  a  long  ride 
.over  the  mountains   and   through  the   South   Park 
from  the  new  mining  camp  at  Gunnison  City;  the 


4  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

journey  of  three  hundred  miles  having  taken  ten 
days  to  accomplish. 

Leaving  Chicago  some  three  months  previous 
for  the  far  West,  I  had  wandered  aimlessly  from 
camp  to  camp,  through  the  mining  district  of  Colo- 
rado, in  search  of  a  possible  Eldorado,  where  I  was 
to  "strike  it  rich"  and  return  home  in  glorious 
triumph,  as,  perhaps,  I  had  presumptuously  predicted. 
I  forget  the  exact  amount  I  did  return  with — but  no 
matter. 

Near  Rico,  in  the  San  Juan  Valley,  I  became 
acquainted  with  a  party  of  miners,  who  were  out 
prospecting;  they  were  a  jovial,  reckless  set  of  fel- 
lows, and  with  that  free  hospitality  never  to  be 
met  with  elsewhere,  cordially  invited  me  to  join  them. 
My  valise  I  had  left  at  Silverton,  but  in  the  moun- 
tains one  need  not  be  particular,  and  my  blue  woolen 
shirt  was  eminently  fitted  for  camping,  especially 
where  water  was  so  plentiful. 

For  a  week  I  stayed  with  my  newly-made 
friends,  and  constituting  myself  cook  to  the  outfit, 
proved  to  be  of  no  small  service,  for  of  all  things 
this  duty  is  the  most  irksome  to  the  true  prospector. 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE    WORLD.  5 

It  was  a  proud  day  for  me  when  I  could  turn  a 
"flapjack"  by  inserting  a  knife  under  the  mass  of 
half-cooked  batter — that  perhaps  filled  the  entire 
bottom  of  the  pan — and  tossing  it  in  mid-air,  dex- 
trously  catch  it  on  the  blade  and  deposit  the  cake 
safely,  without  a  splash,  in  the  "skid  "  again. 

The  miners  staked  out  several  "  claims"  during 
my  stay,  and  in  one  or  two  my  name  was  entered  on 
the  notice  with  the  rest.  I  even  put  in  two  hours' 
hard  labor  with  pickaxe  and  shovel  at  assessment  work 
on  one  claim,  but  having  blistered  both  hands  badly 
in  the  effort,  concluded  cooking  was  more  my  forte, 
so  desisted.  Perhaps  that  claim  to  day  is  worth 
millions  of  dollars,  and  I — one  of  the  original  own- 
ers— remain  in  total  ignorance. 

I  was  sorry  to  leave  them;  they  were  rough 
and  wild,  but  were  very  kind  to  me  at  all  times,  and 
it  was  with  deep  regret  that  I  parted  company  and 
returned  to  Silverton.  From  there  I  had  my  valise 
forwarded  to  Denver,  after  selecting  a  few  necessary 
articles  of  clothing  which  I  wrapped  in  my  blanket, 
and  slinging  the  latter  on  my  back  started  out  for  a 
tramp  across  the  San  Juan  Divide,  en  route  for  the 


6  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

Gunnison  country. 

From  Silverton  to  Animas  Forks,  thence  to 
Mineral  Point,  Ouray  and  Los  Pinos  Agency, 
I  pursued  my  way,  arriving  at  the  latter  place  on  the 
third  day.  Several  times  during  the  tramp  I  was 
tempted  to  throw  away  my  blanket,  so  irksome  was 
the  load,  yet  I  hung  to  it  through  all  the  journey 
until  I  arrived  at  Denver,  where  I  sold  it  to  a  second- 
hand dealer  for  a  small  sum. 

At  the  Agency  I  met  a  young  Chicagoan,  a 
lieutenant  of  one  of  the  cavalry  companies,  stationed 
about  twenty  miles  below  the  post,  on  the  Uncom- 
paghre  River.  Learning  where  I  hailed  from,  he 
invited  me  to  visit  the  camp,  and  the  ambulance 
wagon  arriving  that  afternoon  for  mail  we  both  re- 
turned in  it. 

I  spent  three  days  among  the  soldiers  in  the 
field,  and  it  being  just  after  the  pay-master's  visit,  the 
boys  were  flush  of  money,  and  were  eager  to  part 
with  it.  I  saw  more  gambling  in  those  three  days 
than  I  ever  expect  to  see  again  in  as  short  a  time. 
Officers  and  privates  alike  were  possessed  of  the 
mania,  and  gave  it  full  vent.  One  enterprising  in- 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  7 

dividual  even  had  a  roulette  wheel  running  in  full 
blast,  and  appeared  to  be  doing  a  big  business.  I 
suppose  that  the  poor  devils  get  so  sick  of  the  monot- 
onous inactivity  of  a  long  camp,  with  its  unvarying 
round  of  duties,  always  the  same  day  after  day,  that 
they  become  thoroughly  demoralized,  and  being 
beyond  the  confines  of  all  civilization,  unconsciously 
verge  upon  a  semi-barbarous  state. 

My  new  acquaintance  was  the  senior  lieutenant 
of  his  company,  and,  the  captain  being  away  on  sick 
leave,  he  was  in  full  command.  The  second  day  of 
my  visit  he  received  orders  to  take  his  company  on 
a  short  scouting  expedition  to  select  a  new  site  for  a 
camp.  This  was  gratifying  news  to  him  and  the 
boys  in  blue,  as  it  promised  a  change  in  the  dreary 
blank  of  their  existence,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
they  were  in  readiness  to  the  bugle-cry  of  "mount.'' 

Loaning  me  a  blouse  and  fatigue  cap,  my  friend 
smuggled  me  into  the  party,  I  using  his  spare  horse, 
and  by  keeping  well  in  the  centre  of  the  company, 
I  managed  to  escape  the  keen  eye  of  the  colonel — a 
regular  martinet — who  rode  down  from  headquarters 
to  see  us  off. 


g  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

It  was  a  glorious  trip,  and  one  that  I  cannot 
well  forget.  Towards  evening  one  of  the  privates  shot 
a  magnificent  elk,  and  that  night  around  the  camp- 
fire  we  dined  luxuriantly  on  venison  steak,  broiled 
cleliciously  over  red-hot  coals.  What  stories  those 
soldiers  told,  of  course  mostly  relating  to  Indians 
and  their  modes  of  warfare — and  how  I  did  drink  in, 
with  ears  wide  open  every  word  they  uttered!  The 
Meeker  massacre  was  only  a  couple  of  months  old, 
and  one  of  the  men  had  been  with  the  first  on  the 
field,  so  that  I  heard  the  horrible  story  with  all  its 
revolting  details.  Poor  Josephine  Meeker!  she  is 
dead  now  but  if  what  that  soldier  told  be  true 
it  would  have  been  better  had  she  never  been  born. 

Returning  to  camp  next  day,  I  took  a  reluctant 
farewell  of  the  soldier  boys,  and  taking  advantage 
of  the  ambulance  wagon's  trip  for  mail,  was  con- 
veyed back  to  the  Agency  in  it.  Again  starting  out 
on  my  pedestrian  journey,  I  tramped  boldly  on  toward 
my  destination,  passing  through  a  Ute  village  on  my 
way  to  the  Cimarron,  where  I  had  the  novel  pleasure 
of  witnessing  a  pony  race,  with  Indian  girls  as  riders. 

I  generally  averaged  twenty-five  miles  a   day, 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  9 

which  was  pretty  good  traveling  in  that  section,  where 
the  alkali  dust  is  nearly  a  foot  thick,  and  the  sun 
almost  hot  enough  to  cook  eggs.  I  had  some  glori- 
ous meals  on  that  route,  one  especially  at  Captain 
Kline's  ranch  on  the  Cimarron — composed  of  fresh 
brook  trout,  hot  biscuits  and  roast  venison — the 
remembrance  of  which,  in  latter  days,  when  I  was 
particularly  unfortunate,  haunted  my  dreams  again 
and  agiin. 

My  cntre  into  Gunnison  City  was  marked  by  a 
tragical  occurrence.  It  was  on  Saturday  afternoon 
when  the  dirty  white  tents  and  rough  shingled  shan- 
ties first  met  my  view.  The  place  was  divided  into 
"old  "  and  "new"  town.  I  put  up  at  a  hotel  (?) 
in  the  former  quarter,  where  I  made  close  acquaint- 
ance with  Gunnison  water  and  its  cleansing  proper- 
ties, aided  by  a  bounteous  use  of  good  yellow  soap. 

In  the  evening  I  strolled  over  the  newer  portion 
of  the  town,  or  city,  to  speak  correctly.  The  main 
and  only  street  was  chiefly  lined  with  tents  on  each 
side,  one  or  two  rough  pine  shanties  being  the  prom- 
inent exceptions.  Such  a  motley  crew  of  citizens  I 
do  not  suppose  could  ever  be  met  with  but  in  such  a 


J0  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

frontier  mining  camp  as  this.     Men  of  every  nation- 
ality and  description  were  here  all  worshipping  at  the 
same  throne,  and  with  a  common  ambition — gold! 
It  was  like  viewing  an  international  fair  to  walk 

up  and  down  the  street  and  see  the  various  articles 
spread  out  for  sale  along  the  walks,  and  hear  the  eter- 
nal din  from  a  hundred  different  throats  swelling  out 
into  one  immense  chorus  and  making  night  hideous. 
Men  brushed  by  clad  in  true  frontier  style,  red  neck- 
erchief and  wide  slouched  hat,  blue  or  gray  woolen 
shirt,  heavy  mining  boots,  and  round  the  waist 
a  belt  or  scarf  which  was  adorned  with  a  revolver  or 
bowie-knife  conspicuously  placed. 

The  sound  of  music  (?)  drew  my  attention  to 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  pretentious-looking 
wooden  buildings  on  the  street.  A  dirty  canvas  sign 
stretched  over  the  entrance,  bore  the  device  in  flar- 
ing black  letters,  "Eureka  Saloon,"  and  it  was  evident 
from  the  crowd  .passing  in  and  out  it  was  liberally 
patronized. .  Following  the  tide  I  found  myself  in  a 
regular  "den  "  of  the  very  worst  description.  A 
dance  was  in  progress  ,  as  I  entered,  the  females — 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  II 

some  five  or  six  in  all— each  trying  to  out-kick 
the  other  in  a  species  of  dance  supposed  to  resemble- 
the  can-can.  In  the  rear  end  of  the  room  some 
twenty  or  thirty  men  were  collected  around  a  green 
table  kept  by  one  "  French  Pete,"  who  was  also  the 
dealer.  A  murderous  looking  revolver  was  promi- 
nently resting  at  his  right  hand,  and  the  "  look-out  " 
also  sported  its  counterpart. 

The  game  was  "faro,"  and  edging  up  to  the 
table  I  found  big  stakes  were  being  played  for,  one 
half-drunken  miner  having,  when  I  arrived,  nearly 
five  hundred  dollars  on  the  board.  He  had  been 
losing  heavily,  and  was  disposed  to  be  "fighting 
mean;"  what  is  known  as  "splits"  had  been  dealt 
him  three  times  in  succession,  on  as  many  dif- 
ferent bets,  and  with  the  last  he  half  rose,  and  swore 
he  was  being  "  worsted." 

This  was  too  much  for  French  Pete  and  his  col- 
league to  stand,  and  in  a  trice  two  revolvers  covered 
the  miner,  whose  hand  also  rested  on  a  like  weapon. 
Muttering  an  oath  he  loosened  his  hold  and  resumed 
his  seat,  but  with  the  next  turn  from  the  box  out  came 
another  "split."  In  a  second  three  revolvers  were 


I2  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

whipped  out,  but  the  "  look-out  "  shot  first,  and  the 
"miner  fell. 

In  less  time  than  I  can  tell,  that  saloon  was 
vacated,  and  in  company  with  about  twenty  others  I 
found  myself  making  lively  time  across  lots  to 
"  old' '  town,  where  I  quickly  "turned  in' '  at  my  hotel, 
for  rest,  entirely  satisfied  with  my  view  of  Gunnison 
by  night.  I  heard  afterward  that  when  the  city 
marshal  put  in  an  appearance  all  he  found  was  the 
dead  body  of  the  miner  on  the  floor,  with  the  dress 
pockets  turned  inside  out,  and  not  an  article  of  val- 
ue to  be  found  upon  it.  Whether  any  justice  was 
meted  out  to  the  murderer,  I  cannot  say,  but  at  the 
time  of  my  leaving  I  know  nothing  had  been  done. 

Next  day  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  with  a 
party  of  prospectors  just  about  to  start  for  Denver, 
after  having  been  out  since  spring,  prospecting. 
There  were  four  in  all,  and  they  owned  a  good  span 
of  mules,  a  substantial  looking  covered  wagon,  with  a 
complete  camping  outfit,  including  a  portable  cook 
stove.  In  addition  to  this,  one  of  the  party  was  pos- 
sessed of  a  very  good  saddle-horse,  whose  acquaint- 
ance I  made  later  on. 


SECOND  EXTRACT. 

For  a  small  consideration,  I  was  allowed  to  join 
the  party  in  their  trip  across  the  plains,  promising 
at  the  same  time  to  do  an  equal  share  of  the  work 
with  the  rest.  It  was  slow  traveling  of  course,  the 
mules  not  being  able  to  go  faster  than  a  walk,  so  that 
thirty  miles  a  day  was  considered  an  excellent  record. 
I  was  permitted  to  ride  the  spare  horse  nearly  all 
the  journey  and  often  would  speed  ahead  of  the 
wagon  some  five  or  six  miles,  dismount  and  hobble 
the  horse,  then  lie  down  in  the  cool  shade  along  the 
Tumichi  river  and  await  the  arrival  of  my  comrades. 

With  the  outfit  was  a  good  rifle  and  shot-gun  and 
plenty  of  fishing  tackle.  The  latter  was  in  constant 
requisition,  the  mountain  streams  being  abundantly 
stocked  with  fish,  trout  being  especially  plentiful. 
We  shot  a  deer  once  during  the  mid-day  halt  and  for 
two  days  feasted  royally  on  the  venison.  Sage  hens 


I4  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

were  also  to  be  obtained  very  easily  and  barring  a 
somewhat  pungent  odor  the  meat  was  really  very  ap- 
petizing. 

My  Rico  apprenticeship  served  me  in  good  stead 
on  this  trip,  as  none  of  the  party  could  boast  of  their 
cooking  powers — unless  in  making  coffee — and  many 
were  the  encomiums  I  received,  on  my  skill  with  that 
choice  morsel — the  ''flapjack."  In  crossing  the 
South  Park  the  heat  from  the  sun  was  intense,  so  that 
we  generally  started  very  early,  in  order  to  make  good 
time  before  Old  Sol  attained  much  power.  Halting 
at  noon  for  lunch  and  to  rest  and  water  the  mules, 
we  would  all  take  a"  short  siesta,  then  harness  up — 
and  plod  on  again  until  dusk  when  the  final  halt  for 
the  day  was  made. 

It  was  my  duty  always  to  ride  ahead  and  select 
our  camping  ground  at  night,  as  after  leaving  the 
Tumichi  river  water  was  much  more  scarce,  and 
oftentimes  we  were  compelled  to  ride  on  some  dis- 
tance beyond  our  usual  day's  quantum  of  miles  in 
order  to  camp  near  a  stream.  We  were  generally 
very  fortunate  in  this  respect  and  once  only  suffered 
for  want  of  water,  the  poor  mules  being  the  worse  off 


A  TRAMP   AROUND    THE   WORLD.  15 

— we  only  being  deprived  of  our  usual  luxury — coffee. 

I  enjoyed  the  trip  very  much,  in  spite  of  the 
monotony  that  the  last  three  or  four  day's  journey 
entailed,  and  was  really  quite  sorry  when  the  spires 
and  chimneys  of  Denver  were  visible  to  the  eye.  I 
had  made  good  friends  of  all  in  the  party;  we  had 
been  constantly  together  for  ten  days  and  I  think  I 
can  safely  say,  were  loth  to  part  company,  but  of 
course  our  ways  did  not  lie  in  the  same  direction  and 
after  a  cordial  handshaking  we  parted,  they  to  seek 
their  respective  homes,  I  to  take  my  own  peculiar 
course. 

It  was  here  that  I  first  determined  to  make  the 
Grand  Tour,  and  that,  too,  when  my  money  was  near- 
ly gone.  I  had  been  in  Denver  three  days  when  this 
brilliant  idea  was  conceived,  and  during  that  time 
had  been  debating  upon  the  policy  of  returning  home 
to  confess  my  error  in  ever  leaving,  and  resume 
where  I  had  broken  off,  or  to  continue  my  wander- 
ings. Prudence  whispered,  "return;"  but  the  desire  for 
travel,  seconded  by  a  strong  aversion  to  going  back 
broke,  carried  the  day,  and  from  that  time  on  I  kept 
my  face  ever  westward,  until  I  finally  halted  at  my 


jg  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

starting  point,  having  made  a  clean  circuit  of  the 
world. 

My  personal  outfit  at  this  time  was  not  elaborate 
but  very  serviceable,  especially  for  the  trip  I  contem- 
plated. Having  resolved  to  work  my  way  round  the 
world,  I  was  of  course  prepared  to  rough  it  in  many 
different  ways,  so  my  costume  was  peculiarly  adapted 
to  the  position.  It  consisted  of  a  Stout  pair  of  knee- 
boots,  dark  grey  suit  of  clothes,  blue  woolen  shirt 
and  soft  felt  hat,  all  made  to  wear  and  warranted  to 
last,  which  they  did  in  spite  of  pretty  rough  usage. 

It  was  not  long  before  I  met  a  kindred  spirit 
whose  aspirations,  like  mine,  were  fixed  westward, 
and  whose  cash  account  was  as  easy  to  figure.  Cali- 
fornia was  the  goal  of  his  hopes,  and  over  our  last 
meal  eaten  in  Denver  we  shook  hands  to  make  the 
"riffle"  together.  He  proved  to  be  a  very  cheerful 
companion,  was  decidedly  Mark  Tapleyish  under 
difficulties,  full  of  mother  wit,  and,  having  been  over 
the  road  before,  knew  the  ropes  thoroughly.  Our 
immediate  destination  was  Cheyenne,  W.  T. ,  distant 
from  Denver  abo.ut  140  miles.  As  we  had  no  money, 
of  course  our  only  way  to  get  there  was  to  walk,  and 


A  TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  17 

this  we  proposed  to  do.  Perhaps  the  notes  taken 
from  my  diary  will  better  tell  the  story  of  my  actual 
(/c/'iit  as  a  tramp: 

Monday,  6th. — Started  at  6  a.  m.  to  walk  to 
Cheyenne;  my  friend  Charley  had  twenty  cents,  I 
thirty;  lunched  at  Golden,  14  miles  from  Denver; 
walked  steadily  all  afternoon;  toward  dusk  left  track 
to  make  short  cut  to  next  town,  where  we  proposed 
halting  for  night.  Lost  our  way,  kept  right  along 
until  near  midnight,  when,  having  sprained  ankle, 
could  scarcely  lift  my  foot  it  was  so  painful.  Finally 
crawled  under  some  railroad  ties  piled  up  near  the 
track,  which  a  curve  brought  us  to,  and  both  being 
exhausted  fell  asleep. 

Tuesday,  yth. — Found  we  had  walked  35  miles; 
felt  very  tired;  did  too  much  first  day.  Breakfasted 
at  Boulder  on  some  bread  and  cheese  which  we  ob- 
tained with  our  last  dime.  Good  sleep  in  shade  near 
Fair  Grounds,  after  which  had  a  refreshing  swim. 
Walked  to  Longmont,  having  scored  25  miles. 
Went  stipperless  to  bed,  the  latter  being  an  empty 
box-car  on  side  track.  Dreamed  I  was  home  report- 
ing for  Chicago  paper  at  a  banquet;  saw  all  the  good 


xg  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

things  spread  out  before  me  and  was  about  to  par- 
take, when  a  kick  on  the  shin  from  my  restless  com- 
rade awakened  me;  turned  over  with  a  sigh  and 
groan. 

Wednesday,  8th. — Went  up  town,  and  at  a  bak- 
ery traded  good  silk  handkerchief  for  couple  loaves 
of  bread,  some  cheese  and  half  a  pie;  returned 
in  triumph  with  my  trophies,  divided  the  spoils 
with  Charley  and  another  unfortunate  who 
crawled  out  of  next  car;  aided  by  cold  spring  water 
made  capital  meal.  In  spite  of  my  swollen  ankle, 
walked  to  Loveland,  nearly  18  miles.  Drew  lots  for 
supper,  received  "Hotel;"  went  to  the  kitchen  (first 
appearance  in  this  line)  and  in  reply  to  modest  re- 
quest for  food,  was  referred  to  woodpile.  I  left,  but 
next  day  was  glad  to  go  back.  Found  car  loaded 
with  grain  in  bags;  proved  most  luxuriant  couch,  and 
dropped  peacefully  to  sleep. 

Thursday,  pth. — Helped  to  clean  engine  on  side 
track;  driver  gave  me  ride  to  Fort  Collins.  Went 
to  restaurant,  sawed  wood  for  dinner  and  again  for 
supper,  having  waited  for  companions  to  catch  up. 
They  concluded  would  wait  at  Ft.  Collins  for  a  day 


A   TRAMP   AROUN?D    THE    WORLD.  19 

or  two,  and  would  meet  me  in  Cheyenne,  so  in  com- 
pany with  young  cow-boy,  started  at  6  p.  m.  for 
Lone  Tree.  This  was  worst  part  of  journey,  as  there 
is  no  water  and  no  shade  far  nearly  30  miles,  so  de- 
termined to  walk  all  night  as  being  better  than  sub- 
mitting to  heat  from  blazing  sun  during  day.  Be- 
guiled the  first  few  hours  by  describing  favorite  dishes 
in  the  way  of  eatables  we  were  most  particularly  fond 
of,  and  the  justice  each  could  mete  out  to  this  or 
that  delicacy.  Gradually  became  too  tired  to  talk, 
settled  down  into  dogged  walk.  Coyotes  howled 
right  and  left,  but  none  came  near;  watched  the  eve- 
ning star  mount  higher  and  higher  in  the  heavens, 
and  wondered  if  morning  would  ever  break  again,  or 
whether  end  of  the  world  had  come.  With  the  ris- 
ing sun  we  found  ourselves  close  to  deserted  section- 
house  about  three  miles  from  Lone  Tree.  Took  off 
shoes  and  coat,  made  pillow  and  slept  until  sun  was 
high  above  us.  "  Lone  Tree"  consisted  of  section 
house  and  a  ranche.  Drew  lots  and  chose  the  former. 
Found,  little  woman  with  big  baby,  wife  of  section 
boss,  and  who  also  boarded  the  laborers,  doing  all 
work  alone.  Carried  several  buckets  of  water  for 


20  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

her,  after  which  had  first  square  meal  since  leaving 
Denver.  Washed  dishes,  peeled  potatoes  and  nursed 
baby.  Little  woman  delighted;  when  husband 
returned  offered  me  $15  a  month  and  board,  to  stay; 
felt  highly  honored  at  offer,  asked  until  next  morn- 
ing to  consider;  slept  on  kitchen  floor. 

Saturday,  nth. — Concluded  not  to  stay,  so  not 
seeing  my  companion,  set  out  for  U.  P.  Junction,  six 
miles  from  Cheyenne.  At  this  place  was  horrified  and 
shocked  to  find  the  dead  body  of  the  young  cow-boy 
in  freight  room  at  Junction.  Had  stolen  ride  night 
before  under  freight  train  on  "brakes,"  and  fallen 
asleep;  (presumably)  his  head  was  caught  between 
running  gear  and  floor  of  car;  death,  probably  in- 
stantaneous?. He  was  buried  at  Cheyenne.  Went  to 
Camp  Carlin,  made  friends  with  soldiers  and  was  hos- 
pitably entertained.  Found  some  had  acquaintances 
with  the  cavalry  on  the  Uncompahgre,  so  was  made 
welcome  on  that  account. 

Next  day  I  met  my  former  chum  Charley  at  the 
depot,  he  having  arrived  that  morning.  He  had  made 
good  use  of  his  time,  having  already  discovered  on  a 
side-track  some  freight  cars  waiting  to  be  made  up  with 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  21 

train  for  the  West.  Ogden  was  our  next  stopping-place 
and  we  both  agreed  that  walking  was  not  on  the 
programme,  so  determined  to  steal  a  ride  by  forcible 
entrance  into  one  of  the  cars  loaded  with  perishable 
goods,  as  these  are  always  forwarded  without  delay. 
To  do  this  requires  no  little  ingenuity,  besides  some 
risk,  as,  if  caught  by  the  yardmaster,  it  means  a  week 
in  the  lock-up;  so  we  waited  until  dark  before  com- 
mencing operations.  Charley  had  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  one  of  the  fraternity  (/.  e.  a  tramp) 
bound  in  the  opposite  direction,  who  had  agreed  to 
help  "  spring  "  us  in  the  car,  as  it  is  termed  in 
tramp  vocabulary.  By  the  aid  of  a  monkey-wrench 
we  cautiously  unscrewed  the  nuts  that  held  the  bolts 
of  the  sliding  door  in  place,  meanwhile  keeping  a 
sharp  lookout  for  train  men,  who  are  naturally  the 
sworn  enemies  of  all  tramps.  The  night  was  very 
dark,  however,  and  we  succeeded  in  forcing  the  door 
without  detection,  a  flat  board  being  used  as  a  lever 
to  hold  the  door  open,  while  we  crawled  in.  We 
were  particularly  fortunate  in  securing  the  aid  of  an 
accomplice,  as  it  is  very  desirable  to  have  the  nuts 
replaced  on  the  bolts  after  obtaining  admittance 


22  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

to  the  car,  as  the  train  men  make  a  special  point  of 
always  inspecting  the  cars  befoie  starting,  in  order  to 
see  if  they  have  been  tampered  with. 

We  had  provided  ourselves  each  with  a  bottle  of 
water,  and  from  the  soldiers  of  the  camp  I  had  ob- 
tained a  good  supply  of  bread  and  meat,  for  we  did 
not  propose  to  starve  on  the  way,  as  it  takes  from 
three  to  four  days  to  make  the  trip.  The  water  we 
carefully  stored  where  the  bottles  would  not  break 
from  any  jolting  of  the  car,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
heard  our  friend  replace  the  nuts  and  his  low 
whistle  told  us  everything  was  right.  The  hours 
that  ensued  until  I  fell  asleep  were  not  particularly 
pleasant  ones — at  least  to  me — for  my  companion 
was  an  old  stager,  and  his  low  breathing  soon  told 
of  his  utter  oblivion  to  the  surroundings. 

It  was  pitch  dark  in  the  car,  and  the  air  was 
heavy  and  stifling  hot;  my  thoughts  naturally  took  a 
despondent  turn  and  played  havoc  with  my  imagi- 
nation. I  fancied  we  were  about  to  become 
the  victims  of  all  sorts  of  railroad  accidents,  and 
pictured  vividly  the  item  we  would  make  as  served 
up  by  a  western  reporter  upon  the  discovery  of  our 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE    WORLD.  23 

mutilated  corpses.  Twice  we  were  mangled  and 
bruised  beyond  all  recognition,  and  as  many  times 
were  our  charred  remains  discovered  among  the 
itcbns  of  the  burned  merchandise  in  the  car.  At 
last  I  fell  asleep,  thoroughly  worn  out,  and  when  I 
awoke  the  car  was  in  motion.  The  succeeding  days 
and  nights  were  almost  a  blank;  the  only  knowledge 
we  had  of  outside  life  was  by  hearing  at  intervals  a 
noise  overhead,  occasioned  by  the  brakeman  tramp- 
ing from  car  to  car.  We  talked  but  little,  ate  and 
drank  sparingly,  and  slept  almost  all  the  time.  Two 
days  and  two  nights  of  this  was  an  experience  I 
would  never  be  tempted  to  repeat,  and  I  was  very 
thankful  when  the  car  was  at  last  detached  and  side- 
tracked, from  which  we  concluded  we  had  arrived  at 
Ogden. 

We  kept  very  quiet  for  some  three  or  four  hours, 
and  then  started  a  vigorous  kicking  on  the  door  in 
order  to  attract  attention,  this  being  our  only  way  to 
get  out,  as  the  yardmaster,  hearing  the  noise,  would 
naturally  seek  the  cause.  After  repeated  pounding 
we  heard  a  voice  crying  out  to  let  up,  which  we  did. 
We  were  running  no  little  risk  in  thus  practically 


2,  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

declaring  ourselves  tramps,  as  the  law  at  Ogden  gives 
all  such  one  month  imprisonment  in  the  city  jail, 
but  it  was  our  only  chance  to  get  out,  and  anything 
was  preferrable  to  longer  detention  in  the  close 
atmosphere  of  the  car.  We  did  not  propose  to  be 
caught  without  a  struggle,  so  laid  our  plans  accord- 
ingly. The  seal  being  taken  from  the  hasp  of  the 
door,  the  latter  was  slid  back,  and  a  voice  com- 
manded us  to  '•  Come  out  of  that  now!" 

It  was  evidently  quite  early,  very  few  men  be- 
ing in  the  yard,  and  from  where  I  stood  behind  some 
boxes,  I  could  see  some  distance  up  the  track.  Whis- 
pering to  Charley,  I  told  him  to  jump  and  run,  and 
at  a  signal  we  leaped  together,  and  escaping  the 
clutches  of  the  yardmaster,  who  proved  to  be  rather 
aged,  we  lit  out  as  fast  as  our  cramped  limbs  would 
carry  us.  For  the  first  few  minutes  I  ran  blindly, 
being  almost  dazed  by  the  sudden  transition  from 
the  darkness  of  our  prison  to  the  broad  light  of  day. 
But  the  pupils  of  the  eye  gradually  got  accustomed 
to  the  change,  and,  pausing  for  breath,  I  found  we 
were  safe  from  pursuit. 


THIRD  EXTRACT. 

Upon  inquiry  we  found  that  we  had  stumbled 
upon  the  Salt  Lake  branch  road,  so  thanking  our 
lucky  stars,  we  kept  steadily  onward,  hoping  to 
reach  the  Mormon  City  before  night.  Here  I  was 
fortunate  enough  to  fall  in  with  an  old  Chicago 
friend,  who  treated  us  like  princes  during  our  short 
stay  in  that  beautiful  valley.  But  Utah  was  not 
California,  and  we  were  anxious  to  be  moving,  so  on 
the  third  day  I  said  good-by  to  my  hospitable  friend, 
and  with  my  comrade  started  back  to  Ogden.  We 
arrived  just  as  an  emigrant  train  was  about  to  pull 
out,  and,  jumping  aboard,  I  went  to  the  conductor 
and  told  him  our  fix.  He  agreed  to  carry  us  to  the 
end  of  his  division,  after  a  little  parley,  giving  us  to 
understand  it  was  because  we  had  not  attempted 
to  steal  a  ride  that  made  him  so  lenient.  At  the  end  of 


26 


LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 


this  section  a  kind-hearted  brakeman  took  us  in 
charge,  and  we  rode  to  the  end  of  his  division  in  the 
tool  chest  attached  to  the  caboose,  it  being  under 
his  immediate  supervision.  The  next  ride  we 
made  was  between  the  tender  and  mail  car  of  a 
through  express,  which  carried  us  to  Reno,  Nevada, 
before  the  conductor  discovered  our  presence.  Then, 
for  the  first  time,  we  did  a  little  "drilling,"  /'.  e., 
walking,  but,  before  night,  at  a  small  station,  man- 
aged to  bribe  a  brakeman  on  a  freight  train,  with  a 
pocket-knife  and  pair  of  suspenders,  in  consideration 
of  which  we  were  allowed  to  hang  on  to  an  iron  lad- 
der, between  two  cars,  all  night  long.  By  carefully 
watching  the  conductor's  movements,  we  managed  to 
stick  to  that  freight  until  it  reached  Sacramento,  Cal. 
Here  Charley  felt  at  home,  and  it  being  well  toward 
evening,  led  the  way  to  one  of  the  river  wharves. 
We  found  a  boat  almost  ready  to  steam  out  for  'Frisco 
and  by  skillfully  dodging  the  gate  keeper  managed 
to  steal  aboard  unperceived,  when  we  at  once  stowed 
away  among  a  pile  of  freight  on  the  lower  deck 
forward.  A  calm  sense  of  rest  stole  over  me  as  I  lay 
there,  snugly  hid,  and  gazed  up  at  the  shining 


A   TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  27 

moon,  shedding  her  benignant  rays  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  water,  as  we  glided  swiftly  down  the 
Sacramento  river.  The  last  I  remember  was  kicking 
Charley  for  snoring  so  loudly,  being  afraid  he  would 
arouse  the  deck  hands,  and  then  I  was  in  the  land  of 
dreams.  When  I  awoke,  we  were  moored  to  the 
wharf  at  San  Francisco  and  the  ireight  was  being 
rapidly  unloaded;  our  long  and  hard-fought  trip  was 
over,  at  least  for  the  present,  the  Golden  Gate  lay 
right  ahead  and  the  city  of  hills  and  red-wood  dwell- 
ings was  open  to  our  critical  investigation. 

Breakfast  was  naturally  our  first  thought,  the 
second,  how  to  obtain  it;  neither  of  us  had  a  cent, 
nor  had  we  anything  available  to  raise  money  upon; 
all  desirable  articles  we  possessed  at  the  start,  having 
long  since  been  parted  with  to  help  soften  the  hearts 
of  the  various  brakesmen  we  happened  across  while 
on  the  tramp,  and  into  whose  good  graces  we  had 
been  anxious  to  ingratiate  ourselves. 

My  comrade,  however,  was  not  long  in  solving  this 
conundrum,  and  confidently  led  the  way  up  Market 
street  toward  the  business  center  of  the  city.  Our 
road  led  past  the  magnificent  Palace  Hotel,  with  its 


2y  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

hundreds  of  windows  about  which  I  had  read  not  a 
little,  but  the  hasty  glance  I  gave  it  did  not  impress 
me  very  deeply  as  to  its  pre-eminence,  so  far  as 
architecture  went,  over  some  others  I  had  seen,  and  I 
thought  of  our  State  Street  hostelrie,  away  back 
at  home,  and  heartily  wished  I  were  inside  it.  A 
small,  and  very  dingy-looking  store  on  Dupont  Street 
closely  verging  on  the  Chinese  quarters,  was  where 
my  companion  finally  halted  and  into  which  he  at 
once  entered.  Fifteen  minutes  later  he  emerged,  and 
in  answer  to  my  look  of  inquiry,  carelessly  jingled 
some  silver  pieces  in  his  pocket;  it  was  very  evident 
his  mission  had  been  successful  and  we  lost  no  time 
in  getting  outside  of  the  first  square  meal  it  had 
been. our  good  fortune  to  sit  down  to  for  weeks.  Our 
hunger  appeased,  we  began  to  review  our  position. 
Charley's  destination  was  Los  Angelos,  where  his 
folks  resided,  and  as  he  had  been  absent  from  them 
two  years,  he  was  naturally  anxious  to  get  home,  and 
exhausted  his  best  arguments  in  the  vain  effort  to  in- 
duce me  to  accompany  him  thither.  I  had  other 
plans,  however,  and  was  not  to  be  dissuaded  from 
them,  so,  seeing  I  was  determined  as  to  my  course, 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  29 

he  finally  gave  in,  and  after  generously  dividing  his 
stock  of  borrowed  capital  we  parted. 

The  next  three  or  four  hours  I  spent  in  wander- 
ing aimlessly  about  the  principal  streets  of  the  city 
and  in  feasting  my  eyes  upon  those  prominent  places 
of  interest,  more  or  less  familiar  to  me  from  descrip- 
tive accounts  gathered  from  time  to  time  in  newspa- 
per articles.  About  three  in  the  afternoon,  as  I  stood 
in  contemplative  mood  on  the  steps  of  the  Post 
Office  building,  cogitating  as  to  my  next  move,  I  was 
accosted  by  a  rather  dapper-looking,  sharp-eyed  man 
who  inquired  if  I  were  not  from  Cincinnati.  I 
quickly  undeceived  him  on  this  point  and  in  the 
conversation  that  ensued  casually  made  known  my 
situation,  thinking  perhaps  he  might  be  able  to  assist 
me  in  the  furtherance  of  my  scheme,  which  was  to 
ship  before  the  mast  on  any  of  the  foreign-bound 
vessels  then  lying  in  port.  Vessel  business,  however, 
was  not  in  his  line  as  I  soon  discovered.  Finding  I 
had  not  dined  he  took  me  to  dinner,  and  during  the 
progress  of  the  meal  unfolded  a  little  plan  of  his  own 
to  which  he  required  an  assistant.  The  State  fair 
was  about  to  be  held  at  Sacramento  and  he  wanted 


^o  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

me  to  go  with  him  there  and  "tend* '  a  stand  in  a  large 
booth,  where  I  was  to  preside  over  the  sale  of  some 
precious  "eye-water,"  my  new  acquaintance  giving 
me  to  understand  that  he  was  a  "doctor"  and  the  in- 
ventor and  sole  agent  on  the  Pacific  coast  for  the  "most 
inestimable  liquid  treasure  for  weak  eyes  ever  yet  dis- 
covered." He  was  a  beautiful,  smooth  talker,  this 
"Dr."  Queechy,  and  I  imagine  there  were  few  moves 
on  the  world's  board  that  he  was  not  fully  posted  on. 
While  I  felt  confident  he  was  a  "quack"  and  his  "med- 
icine" trash,  I  thought  there  could  be  no  harm  in  ac- 
cepting his  proposition  for  a  few  days,  especially  as  he 
offered  me  a  good  percentage  on  all  the  "eye-water" 
lotion  I  should  sell  besides  paying  my  food  and  lodg- 
ing while  the  fair  lasted;  so  I  accepted  his  terms  and 
agreed  to  go  at  once  to  Sacramento,  as  the  fair  open- 
ed next  day. 

We  had  big  flaring  cards  posted  around  the  stand 
setting  forth  in  large  type  the  virtues  of  the  wonder- 
ful and  miraculous  "eye-water,"  compounded  by  that 
prince  of  philanthropists  Dr.  Queechy;  also,  on  the 
stand  were  distributed  a  number  of  small  dodgers, 
purporting  to  be  testimonials  from  distinguished  pa- 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  31 

tients  from  all  parts  of  the  Union  who  had  used  the 
celebrated  lotion  with  the  most  beneficial  results. 

Here  I  staid  all  day,  giving  out  hand-bills  to  the 
country  visitors  as  they  strolled  past,  and  selling 
them  my  "eye-water"  at  fifty  cents  per  bottle,  (with 
full  directions  for  use  accompanying  each  purchase.) 
I  took  in  fifteen  dollars  the  first  day,  and  after  lock- 
ing up  the  stock  in  a  large  box,  retired  in  high  glee 
to  a  cheap  hotel  where  I  enjoyed  the  luxuries  of  a 
good  square  meal  and  a  bed.  Meanwhile  I  had  seen 
nothing  of  my  employer,  but  as  he  had  informed  me 
he  should  be  very  busy  I  supposed  he  would  be  visible 
next  day. 

In  the  morning,  I  repaired  to  the  stand  and  fixed 
the  stock  ready  for  business.  What  easy  victims 
those  Californians  were  to  the  "doctor's"  charms;  I 
know  now  that  the  famous  "eye-water  was  nothing 
but  aqua  pura,  with  (as  the  "doctor"  tersely  put 
it)  the  taste  taken  out;  but  how  it  sold, !  That  day  I 
took  in  nearly  twenty  dollars  and  still  the  professor 
had  not  shown  up,  not  that  I  cared  very  much  but  I 
thought  his  non-appearance  strange. 

The  fair  lasted    four  days  and    at  the   close  I  was 


,,2  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

possessed  of  nearly  ninety-five  dollars  in  gold  and 
silver;  bottles  all  gone  and  my  patron  still  non  est. 
Chancing  across  a  policeman,  with  whom  I  was  on 
speaking  terms,  I  described  my  employer  and  inquir- 
ed if  he  knew  him.  He  did.  I  then  learned  for 
the  first  time  why  I  was  employed  and  the  cause  of 
his  disappearance.  The  "eye -water"  business  was  a 
"blind,"  and  the  pseudo  doctor's  real  profession  was 
that  of  a  gambler.  He  was  a  faker,  or  professional 
swindler,  and  in  conjunction  with  an  accomplice,  had 
hired  a  carriage  and  team,  bribed  all  the  policemen 
on  the  grounds  to  wink  at  his  business,  and  had  in- 
troduced his  latest  effort — a  lottery  scheme,  on  an 
entirely  new  system.  By  the  payment  of  a  dollar  the 
victim  received  a  check  on  which  was  printed  a  num- 
ber supposed  to  be  equivalent  to  a  prize.  He  was  a 
cunning  operator,  as  his  modus  operandi,  explained 
by  my  friend,  the  policeman,  will  show.  The  pur- 
chaser pays  a  dollar  and  in  return  gets  ticket  No.  40. 
The  gentlemanly  agent  offers  him  five,  ten  or  fifteen 
dollars  for  it.  He  refuses,  thinking  it  a  fifty -dollar 

prize  or  perhaps  larger.     "Wont  take   fifteen    for  itr 

• 

eh?"  says  the  dealer.     The  answer  is  in  the  negative. 


A    TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  33 

Round  goes  the  wheel,  No.  40  draws  a  blank.  On 
the  contrary,  if  he  accepts  three  or  four  dollars  for 
the  ticket,  he  finds  that  it  has  drawn  twenty,  thirty 
or  fifty  dollars,  as  the  case  may  be.  This  then  was 
his  real  business,  and  as  the  pol iceman  remarked  "he 
drove  a  slashing  trade."  But  the  first  day's  transac- 
tions settled  him;  he  wanted  too  much.  In  the  even- 
ing a  burly  Californian.  one  of  the  victims,  discover- 
ed the  imposition,  and  quietly  gathering  a  few  friends 
sought  out  the  clever  swindlers.  They  smashed  the 
lottery  arrangement  into  splinters,  which,  by  the  way 
was  quite  a  work  of  art,  and  then  gave  the  couple 
five  minutes  start.  They  needed  no  second  hint  to 
leave  town  for  they  saw  the  gentlemen  of  the  "glo- 
rious climate  of  California"  meant  business,  and  they 
hastily  cleared  for  parts  unknown.  This  of  course, 
explained  his  not  appearing  to  receive  the  dividend 
for  the  sale  of  the  "eye- water,"  and  I  remained  sole 
legatee,  provided  he  did  not  appear  to  put  in  a  claim 
later. 


FOURTH  EXTRACT. 

Returning  to  'Frisco,  I  replenished  my  somewhat 
dilapidated  wardrobe  and  purchased  a  small  valise; 
then  began  making  inquiries  around  the  wharfs  for  a 
berth  in  any  of  the  ships  lying  in  the  bay.  Despite 
all  efforts  I  found  it  impossible  to  ship  in  any  capaci- 
ty, and  I  made  up  my  mind  that  "running  away  to 
sea' '  was  -not  quite  such  a  fairy  tale  as  the  story  books 
always  led  me  to  believe.  I  wanted  to  see  Australia, 
that  being  the  farthest  point  I  could  think  of,  so  not 
being  able  to  work  my  way  I  concluded  to  pay  the 
passage  money  provided  I  had  enough.  It  went 
against  the  grain  though  to  do  this,  for  a  regular 
thorough  bred  tramp  would  rather  work  or  beat  his 
way  (especially  the  latter,)  anywhere  rather  than  pay, 
no  matter  if  he  had  ten  times  the  fare,  and  although 
I  was  a  new  hand,  the  principles,  I  regret  to  say, 
were  at  that  period  inculcated  in  me. 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  35 

Not  being  able  to  ship,  and  finding  it  equally 
hard  to  stow  away,  I  repaired  to  the  office  of  the  S. 
S.  Company  for  information  as  to  passage  money, 
dates  of  sailing,  etc.  This  is  what  I  read:  First  class 
to  Australian  ports,  $200;  steerage,  $100.  To  Sand- 
wich Islands,  first-class,  $75;  steerage,  $30.  I  had 
a  little  over  $75  left,  and  a  boat  was  to  sail  that  same 
afternoon  for  Sydney,  at  two  o'clock;  it  was  then 
eleven.  What  did  I  do?  I  argued  Sandwich  Islands 
was  just  as  good  as  Australia  to  me,  and  if  I  had  to 
pa\  I  would  get  the  best,  so  without  any  more  self- 
questioning  on  the  subject,  I  stepped  to  the  desk,  put 
down  four  twenty  dollar  gold  pieces  and  my  name 
was  entered  on  No.  38,  upper  berth,  for  Honolulu. 

I  had  not  much  baggage  to  carry  aboard;  a  fewner 
cessities  in  the  way  of  linen  were  stored  away  in  my 
valise,  together  with  one  or  two  books,  that  was  all, 
and  of  farewells  I  had  none  to  take.  At  five  o'clock 
I  was  passing  through  the  Golden  Gate  en  route  for 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  Pacific  coast  was  fast  dis- 
appearing from  view,  and  the  music  of  the  waters 
lapping  against  the  ship's  side  soon  lulled  me  into 
forgetful  ness,  and  I  went  to  sleep  and  dreamed  I 


-ft  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

married  a  rich  planter's  daughter  and  Avas  crowned 
king  of  the  Cannibal  Islands. 

The  somewhat  short  voyage  was  accomplished 
without  any  particular  incident  worthy  of  note.  Of 
course  I  was  horribly  sea-sick  at  first,  but  I  soon  re- 
covered, and  during  the  balance  of  the  trip  enjoyed 
myself  hugely.  The  first  night  on  shore  at  Honolulu 
was  disappointing;  I  had  imagined  the  place  to  be 
a  tropical  elysium  overflowing  with  delicious  fruits 
and  beautiful  flowery  groves,  where  the  soft  balmy 
air  would  lull  one  into  forgetfulness  of  all  the  harsh 
outer  world;  but  the  actual  realization  was  a  shock 
that  I  did  not  easily  recover  from. 

Mosquitos  by  hundreds  and  thousands,  attacked 
me  as  I  vainly  tried  to  woo  sleep  to  my  senses,  and  I 
suffered  tortures  until  morning,  when  I  managed  to 
crawl  into  my  clothes,  weak  from  the  loss  of  blood. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his  majesty  King 
Kalakaua  during  my  short  stay.  It  was  not  the 
first  time  either;  some  five  years  previous,  during  his 
tour  of  the  States,  he  had  visited  Chicago,  and  on  its 
Board  of  Trade  made  a  little  speech,  in  my  hearing. 
He  did  not  appear  greatly  changed;  I  saw  a  stout 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  37 

well-built  man,  rather  tall  and  of  a  dusky  bronzed 
hue;  very  dark  side-whiskers  and  moustache  adorning 
a  somewhat  sensuous  face.  Dressed  in  a  genteel  suit 
of  black,  with  a  tall  silk  hat,  he  reminded  me  very 
much  of  a  colored  representative  in  Congress;  or 
better  yet,  coachman  to  a  wealthy  private  banker. 

He  is  the  people's  choice  for  ruler,  but  is  by  no 
means  the  legitimate  heir  to  the  throne,  Queen  Em- 
ma— not  his  wife,  however — a  dignified,  intellectual 
looking  woman  of  perhaps  thirty-five  or  forty,  enjoy- 
ing that  distinction.  I  had  an  excellent  opportunity 
of  viewing  her  majesty's  face  on  one  occasion,  and 
was  much  impressed  by  her  natural  dignity  of  bear- 
ing and  intelligent  countenance,  which  asserted  itself 
in  spite  of  her  dusky  color. 

The  day  after  my  arrival,  while  strolling  around 
the  town,  I  came  upon  a  number  of  the  native  Ka 
nakas  who  had  assembled  in  front  of  the  post-office 
building  and  were  waiting  for  the  distribution  of  the 
mail  brought  by  the  steamer  the  night  previous.  As 
this  takes  place  only  once  a  month  it  is  quite  an  event 
and  is  eagerly  looked  for.  There  was  much  jostling, 
laughing  and  loud  talking  among  the  natives,  but  it 


-g  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

was  a  good-natured  crowd,  and  all  seemed  happy  and 
devoid  of  care.  Presently  a  window  was  thrown 
open,  a  face  appeared,  a  name  was  called  and  in 
response  a  tall  young  native  stepped  to  the  aperture, 
and  as  the  mail  was  thrown  to  him,  called  out  in 
his  native  tongue,  with  a  stentorian  voice,  the  su- 
perscription on  each  letter.  Did  the  person  hap- 
pen to  be  on  the  farthest  edge  of  the  crowd,  the 
letter  or  packet  was  passed  over  from  hand  to  hand 
until  it  reached  the  owner.  Were  the  fortunate 
recipient  a  young  girl,  as  not  infrequently  happen- 
ed, many  a  good  natured  joke  and  laugh  were  pass- 
ed at  her  expense,  while  the  letter  was  ///  tnuisifii, 
and  while  of  course  I  could  not  understand  what 
was  said  it  was  easy  to  guess  the  purport. 

I  was  not  a  little  surprised  at  first  to  see  these 
Islanders  receive  so  many  letters.  The  schools 
planted  by  the  missionaries  have  done  good  work, 
however,  and  the  young  natives,  absent  from  home 
on  a  cruise,  take  every  opportunity  to  write  to 
their  friends  at  home.  A  great  many  of  the  male 
Kanakas  ship  on  whalers,  they  being  especi- 
ally adapted  to  this  class  of  sailoring,  and  make 


A  TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  39 

excellent  boatmen  on  a  long  pull  for  a  "  spermer. " 
It  was  from  this  place  I  made  my  debut  as  a 
sailor  before  the  mast.  My  finances  being  exhausted, 
and  not  possessing  the  means  of  replenishing — no 
work  being  obtainable,  I  boldly  offered  my  services 
to  the  mate  of  a  steamer,  then  lying  at  the  wharf. 
Two  of  his  men  having  levanted  from  the  ship — 
which  had  been  detained  on  account  of  repairs 
needed  in  the  machinery — he  was  left  short-handed, 
so,  after  a  little  parley,  consented  to  ship  me,  and  I 
signed  articles  for  Sydney. 

I  was  assigned  to  the  port  watch,  and  was  ex- 
pected to  turn  to  with  the  regular  crew,  go  aloft 
when  required,  scrub  paint,  wash  decks,  handle 
cargo,  and,  in  fact,  do  all  that  was  expected  of  an 
ordinary  seaman.  I  was  philosopher  enough,  how- 
ever, to  adapt  myself  to  circumstances,  and  never 
grumbled  at  the  work,  and  it  certainly  was  hard.  On 
the  way  from  San  Francisco  I  had  beguiled  the  time 
by  reading,  and  Dana's  "  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast' ' 
was  a  favorite  book  to  me  at  that  period.  In  it  I 
remembered  the  one  and  only  commandment  in  use 
on  his  ship,  and  I  fully  appreciated  the  force  of  it 


4Q  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

later.  It  was:  "  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,  and  do 
all  thou  art  able,  and  on  the  seventh  holystone  the 
main  deck  and  scrape  the  cable." 

I  shall  never  forget  the  first  time  I  went  aloft. 
It  was  night,  and  we  were  two  days  out  from  Hono- 
lulu. The  wind  was  blowing  very  fresh  from  dead 
ahead,  and  the  watch  was  ordered  up  to  make  all 
snug  aloft.  It  had  just  struck  two  bells — one  o'clock 
morning — was  very  dark,  and  all  I  could  make  out 
was  a  dim  shadowy  mass  above.  I  really  had  no  de- 
sire to  have  any  closer  acquaintance  either,  so  quietly 
stowed  myself  away  behind  a  mass  of  coiled  rope 
hanging  to  a  belaying  pin.  But  the  second  mate, 
who  was  in  charge — a  regular  bull-dog — had  spotted 
me,  and  with  an  oath  ordered  me  aloft.  I  looked  at 
him,  glanced  up  at  the  uncertain  clouds  above, 
and  concluded  to  go,  being  politely  urged  to  quicker 
travel  by  a  threatened  visit  from  heavy  sea  boots. 
I  did  not  render  much  assistance  that  time  in  furl- 
ing sail,  but  stood  clinging  to  the  main-mast  at  the 
main-yard,  shaking  all  over,  and  not  at  all  reasured 
by  my  comrades'  kind  injunction  to  ':  Hang  on  with 
your  eyebrows,  Johnny!  " 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  4! 

But  after  that  first  experience,  I  enjoyed  the  de- 
lightful sensation  of  climbing  aloft,  and  there  to 
drink  in  the  glorious  prospect.  Being  light  and  act- 
ive, my  post  was  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  yard  at 
the  main-top -gallant-sail.  Here,  resting  on  the  foot- 
rope,  and  grasping  the  running  gear,  I  would  many 
a  time  stand  and  gaze  down  upon  the  ship's  deck, 
which  resembled  a  snake,  in  its  narrow  proportions, 
cutting  through  the  water,  and  the  wonder  was  how 
the  vessel  could  possibly  preserve  its  equilibrium. 

When  off-watch  and  in  my  bunk,  below  in  the 
fo'castle,  I  would  lie  and  listen  to  the  sailors  spin- 
ning yarns,  the  swish  of  the  waves  upon  the  ship's 
side,  and  gazing  at  the  eternal  green  hue  presented 
from  the  dead-light  at  my  berth,  finally  drop  off  to 
sleep. 

Handling  cargo  on  a  sweltering  hot  day,  down 
in  the  ship's  hold,  where  the  thermometer  stands 
anywhere  from  90°  to  110°,  is  the  hardest  part  of 
the  duties  that  an  ordinary  seaman  is  subjected  to  on  a 
passenger  steamer,  and  I  found  it  so  to  my  cost.  To 
spend  six  hours  there  under  direct  supervision  of  an 
unfeeling  mate,  who  has  nothing  but  curses  to  be- 


42  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

stow  for  the  slightest  mishap,  is  no  child's  play,  but 
I  managed  to  grit  it  through,  always  consoling  my- 
self with  the  thought  that  later  I  should  be  alive  to 
laugh  over  my  bitter  experiences. 

I  stood  it  bravely  for  three  weeks,  but  when 
we  arrived  at  Auckland,  New  Zealand,  I  con- 
cluded I  had  had  enough  sailorizing  for  a  while,  so 
in  turn,  I  took  French  leave  and  bade  the  ship  adieu. 

As  a  city,  Auckland,  to  an  American,  presents 
some  peculiar  features.  Walking  down  the  main 
street,  after  six  o'clock,  any  evening  in  the  week, 
except  Saturday,  he  would  be  astonished  at  the  prison- 
like  solemnity  of  the  place.  Nearly  every  store-front 
is  strongly  guarded  with  large  wooden  shutters, 
firmly  secured  by  a  heavy  iron  bar,  running  trans- 
versely the  whole  length  of  the  windows,  which  gives 
the  street  an  air  of  desolation  and  blankness  utterly 
indescribable. 

Excepting  in  the  bar-rooms — or,  by  courtesy, 
" hotels" — not  a  light  is  to  be  seen;  no  handsome 
goods  displayed;  no  gas-jets  burning  brightly  in  the 
windows;  nothing  but  a  dreary,  wooden  blank.  Af- 
ter San  Francisco,  with  its  many  calcium  lights  and 


A   TRAMP    AROUND    THE   WORLD.  43 

handsome  show  windows,  open  upon  every  street,  it 
is  like  going  from  the  rush  of  busy  Broadway  to  a 
country  graveyard. 


FIFTH  EXTRACT. 

It  was  a  new  experience  to  me  to  spend  Christ- 
mas and  New  Year's  without  the  usual  concomitants 
— snow  and  ice — and  I  must  confess  I  prefer  our  win- 
ter festival  to  the  tropical  one;  it  seems  more  real, 
and  then,  in  the  latter  all  one's  dear  old  legends  and 
memories  are  at  a  discount.  No  fire  burning,  no 
merry  sleigh-bells,  no  steaming  pudding,  no  turkey 
with  its  rich,  crimson  sauce;  all  these  are  conspicuous 
by  their  absence.  One  may  get  plenty  to  eat,  but 
the  appetite  that  comes  with  the  healthy,  cold 
Christmas  is  sadly  wanting.  The  Arctic  regions  even 
would  be  preferable  to  celebrate  in  to  this  warm  cli- 
mate. 

I  did  not  stay  long  at  Auckland:  in  spite  of  re- 
peated efforts  to  obtain  employment  I  was  unsuccess- 
ful, so  I  again  migrated,  and  Wellington,  the  city  of 
eternal  storms,  was  where  I  brought  up.  The  wind 
blows  here  a  fearful  hurricane  continually,  and  it  is  a 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  45 

standing  joke  for  dwellers  in  neighboring  cities  to 
affirm  that  no  matter  where  a  Wellington  man  may 
be  visiting,  as  he  turns  the  corner  of  a  street  he  invol- 
untarily gra«ps  his  hat  in  order  to  steal  a  march  on  old 
Koreas. 

In  this  town  my  affairs  grew  somewhat  des 
perate.  The  German  '•  Wander  Year"  maybe  all 
very  well  for  the  young  native  in  his  own  country, 
but  if  he  ever  met  with  such  a  clannish  lot  of  peo- 
ple outside  the  pale  of  home,  as  did  I,  methinks 
he  would  not  succeed  very  well.  When  I  applied 
for  work  the  accent  betrayed  my  nationality,  and 
I  was  informed  repeatedly,  as  was  perhaps  natural 
enough,  only  I  could  not  think  so,  there  were 
plenty  of  colonials  who  wanted  work,  and  to  them 
would  be  given  the  preference.  However,  my 
philosophy  never  allowed  me  to  despair,  and  I 
remember  when  I  had  eaten  nothing  for  forty  hours, 
walking  along  the  streets  with  my  belt  tightly  buck- 
led up,  engaged  in  composing  humorous  rhymes  to 
accord  with  my  woe-begone  condition.  I  will  not 
inflict  them  on  the  chance  reader,  though,  but  they 
served  at  least  to  distract  my  thoughts. 


46  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

In  this  extremity  I  applied  for  a  position  in  an 
American  circus  that  was  showing  through  the  colo- 
nies, and  being  willing  to  work  was  hired  as  a  canvas 
man.  I  had  previously  considered  sailor  life  hard 
work,  but  it  was  not  a  patch  to  that  of  canvas  man 
to  a  circus.  Driving  stakes  for  the  large  tent  at  the 
show  ground  was  the  toughest  of  all,  and  but  for 
hunger  I  certainly  should  have  backed  out. 

The  men  are  divided  into  squads  of  six,  each 
man  being  armed  with  a  heavy  sledge  hammer,  with 
which  to  drive  stakes.  Standing  in  a  circle  round 
the  billet,  the  first  man  would  tap  the  pin  into  an 
upright  position,  followed  by  a  blow  from  his  next 
neighbor,  then  each  man  would  strike  in  turn  until 
the  stake  was  down  far  enough;  this  operation  be- 
ing repeated  until  the  entire  circuit  of  the  tents  had 
been  made.  The  perspiration  would  pour  down  in 
streams,  and  the  arms  ache  fearfully,  but  one  did 
not  dare  stop  to  rest  or  the  balance  woujd  be 
thrown  out.  I  was  very  glad  when  they  transferred 
me  to  the  property  man,  and  for  the  few  succeed- 
ing weeks,  while  with  him,  the  only  name  I  answered 
to  was  that  of  "  Props."  My  duties  in  this  line  were 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  47 

numerous  and  varied.  On  arriving  at  a  "  show  town  ' ' 
the  first  thing  to  be  done  after  the  ground  had  been 
staked  out,  was  to  put  up  the  dressing-room  tent, 
transfer  the  properties  from  the  cars  to  the  grounds, 
and  range  the  performers'  trunks  in  their  respective 
places  around  the  dressing-room.  By  this  time  the 
'•'  boss  "  canvass  man,  with  his  force,  would  have  the 
big  tent  up,  and  we,  the  property  boys,  were  ready  to 
place  in  position  the  many  contrivances  used  during 
the  performance,  such  as  leaping  boards,  parallel  bars, 
swinging  poles,  bicycle  wire,  trapezes,  and  a  hundred 
other  ingenious  devices  peculiar  to  a  circus.  The 
heavy  work  being  done,  "  Old  Props,  "  as  the  per- 
formers designate  the  "  boss  property  man,"  allotted 
us  individual  tasks,  which  generally  occupied  our 
time  until  the  afternoon  performance  began.  My 
chief  duty  was  to  make  the  thin,  tissue  paper  balloon 
hoops,  used  by  the  riders  and  clowns,  when  in  the 
ring;  from  thirty  to  fifty  were  used  every  day,  and  I 
found  it  a  back-aching,  and  decidedly  temper-trying 
job,  especially  at  Wellington,  where  the  wind,  sweep- 
ing in  under  the  walls  of  the  tent,  blew  my  balloon, 
against  the  corners  of  trunks,  bursting  them  as  fast 


48  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

as  made,  and  scattered  my  stock  of  tissue  paper  in 
every  direction. 

A  property  boy  is  the  recognized  butt  of  every 
employe  belonging  to  the  circus,  and,  as  a  general 
thing,  he  receives  enough  kicks  and  curses  to  kill  any 
ordinary  mortal.  Talking  back  is  out  of  the 
question.  I  once  heard  of  a  new  boy  who  at- 
tempted to  refute  an  accusation  hurled  at  him  by  the 
ring-master  on  some  groundless  charge,  and  he  sud- 
denly disappeared.  The  boys  said  his  ghost  used  to 
haunt  the  ring — he  was  "ring  boy" — and  stalk  be- 
hind the  clown  during  the  performance,  until  one 
day  the  manager  died  from  the  effects  of  a  pro- 
longed spree,  when  the  spirit  ceased  its  visitations. 

If  the  tumbler  missed  his  leap,  something  was 
wrong  with  the  running  board,  and  "props"  as  a 
body  was  eternally  damned  in  a  shower  of  invectives. 
Did  the  rider  do  a  bad  act,  "props"  was  to  blame 
for  the  uneven  ring  or  faulty  "  pad;"  no  matter  if  he 
was  in  no  way  connected  with  fixing  the  trappings 
of  the  horse;  somebody  must  be  censured,  and  custom 
had  marked  "props"  for  the  victim.  The  lady 
riders  were  equally  liberal  in  their  cavilings,  and  the 


A  TRAM!1   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  49 

poor  devils  often  wished  they  were  dead — I  know  I 
did.  And  yet  they  were  kind  in  their  way,  and  did 
not  mean  to  be  harsh.  They  were  only  acting  as  habit 
had  accustomed  them  to.  Every  actor,  at  least  a 
circus  performer,  is  a  chronic  grumbler,and  it  is  char- 
acteristic of  them  to  shirk  all  responsibility  to  the  shoul- 
ders of  poor  "props,"  right  or  wrong,  and  so  he 
must  swallow  it  all  and  with  it  his  self-respect.  It 
was  a  bitter  thing  to  do  at  first,  but  gradually  I  grew 
hardened  as  I  observed  the  matter-of-course  air  with 
which  '-old  props"  received  all  the  insinuating  re- 
marks, and  like  many  other  "experiences,"  I  put  it 
down  as  a  lesson  to  be  strictly  memorized  and  stored 
for  future  use;  perhaps  after  all,  the  discipline  did  me 
no  harm. 

Life  behind  the  scenes  in  a  circus  troupe  is  not  of 
a  particularly  edifying  nature.  To  begin  with,  a  can- 
vas man  is  necessarily  of  the  roughest  and  toughest 
of  his  sex.  A  drunken,  thieving  lot  of  men,  homeless, 
friendless  and  utterly  destitute  of  all  self  respect.  I 
have  seen  men  come  in  at  night  after  the  show,  per- 
haps a  little  the  worse  for  whisky,  and  taking  off 
shoes  and  coat  arrange  them  as  a  pillow,  using  spare 


CQ  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

canvas  for  a  covering,  and  in  the  morning  they 
would  be  unable  to  find  hat,  coat,  shoes,  and  often- 
times their  hard  earnings  all  gone,  having  been  reliev- 
ed during  the  night  by  their  comrades.  Worse  than 
common  thieves,  they  prey  upon  each  other  and 
honor  is  a  quantum  totally  unknown  to  their  creed. 
The  performers,  to  advance  a  grade,  are  as  a  rule 
very  uneducated  except  in  circus  ways,  and  books 
they  seldom  touch,  although  great  on  sporting  pa- 
pers. The  ignorance  of  the  "talented  and  charming 
young  bareback  rider,"  a  girl  of  seventeen,  was  really 
deplorable.  Her  mother,  also  a  rider,  had  introduced 
the  little  one  in  the  dressing  room  directly  after  a 
beautiful  "act,"  at  a  matinee  performance,  amid  the 
yelling  of  the  clown,  the  roars  of  the  lions  in  the 
menagerie  adjacent,  and  the  rough  jokes  of  the  male 
performers  on  the  other  side  of  the  canvas  partition. 
Born  on  a  bed  hastily  snatched  from  the  property 
wardrobe,  and  composed  of  a  heterogeneous  mass  of 
elephant  trappings,  old  tights,  spangled  suits  and 
camel  coverings,  she  had  lived  in  the  same  atmos- 
phere ever  since.  Her  father  she  never  knew,  and  at 
the  age  of  six  her  mother  was  thrown  from  the  horse 


A   TRAMP    AROUND   THE   WORLD.  51 

she  was  riding  and  broke  her  neck,  leaving  the  little 
daughter  alone  and  at  the  mercy  of  her  associates. 
But  to  their  credit,  be  it  said,  they  did  their  part  well 
— as  they  best  knew  how — and  she  was  formally  ad- 
opted as  the  "daughter  of  the  circus."  All  took  a 
hand  in  her  education,  and  while  her  grammar  and 
geographical  knowledge  were,  perhaps,  neglected,  her 
professional  studies  were  pursued  with  earnestness  and 
avidity,  so  that  when  still  quite  young  she  gave 
great  promise  of  a  brilliant  future  in  the  "realms  of 
the  ring."  Although  fully  up  to  the  latest  slang  ot 
the  day,  I  found  her  to  be  of  a  decidedly  innocent 
turn  of  mind;  totally  ignorant  of  the  world  outside 
the  circus;  fond  of  gay  dresses  and  "bravas"  from  the 
admiring  audience,  yet  beyond  that  devoid  of  a  sin- 
gle ambition. 

While  I  was  with  the  circus  she  had  no  less  than 
eight  proposals  for  her  hand,  from  the  troupe,  among 
whom  were  a  number  of  new  performers;  but  love 
was  something  decidedly  foreign  to  her  nature,  and 
she  treated  each  new  suitor  in  the  same  way;  laughed 
in  their  faces,  referred  them  to  the  ring  master  and 
went  on  feeding  the  monkeys  or  practicing  a  new  jig 


5  2 


LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 


step  in  the  side  show,  as  it  happened.  On  one  occa- 
sion, when  leading  her  horse  around  the  ring,  while 
the  clown  was  working  the  risibilities  of  the  audience, 
1  overheard  a  most  impassioned  proposal  from  one  of 
the  balloon  holders,  who  was  in  the  ring,  and  near 
whom  we  halted  just  as  the  clown  had  reached  the 
climax  of  his  joke.  It  was  delivered  during  the  yell- 
ing of  the  delighted  crowd,  and  he  really  made  a  fer- 
vid appeal,  but  her  only  answer  was  a  laugh  as  she 
whipped  up  the  horse  with  a  "Hi!  Ya!"  and  in  less 
than  a  minute  was  jumping  head  first,  not  into  his 
arms,  but  into  the  balloon  he  held  in  his  outstretched 
hand. 

This  young  fellow,  by  the  way,  was  an  exception 
to  the  ordinary  run  of  circus  performers.  He  was 
considered  the  best  leaper,  the  best  rider,  and  was 
accounted  the  best  looking  man  in  the  troupe,  and  I 
am  certain  he  was  the  best  educated.  His  parents  were 
said  to  be  quite  wealthy,  and  he  had  graduated  from 
Harvard,  but  his  bohemian  instincts  got  the  as- 
cendency, and  his  gymnastic  course  of  training  was 
an  open  sesame  to  the  ring,  after  a  year  or  two  of 
hard  practice.  His  specialty  was  riding  four  horses 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE   WORLD.  53 

bare-back,  but  in  spite  of  this,  when  waiting  for  his 
"act,"  he  was  obliged  to  doff  a  "spike-tail"  and 
make  himself  useful  with  the  fellows  in  the  ring,  as 
the  manager  allowed  no  loafing.  He  took  his  dis- 
missal with  a  great  deal  of  composure,  however,  and 
next  day  told  me,  was  revenged  by  seeing  the  clown 
receive  the  mitten,  even  that  individual  being  temp- 
ted to  try  his  fate.  There  seemed  to  be  an  epidemic  ex- 
isting among  the  unmarried  performers,  they  nearly 
all  caught  the  fever.  1  suppose  it  was  caused  by  the 
tropical  weather.  Sensible  girl;  last  time  I  heard  of 
her  she  was  unmarried,  and  I  saw  by  an  eastern  paper 
she  was  engaged  in  sending  her  monthly  savings  in 
postal  remittances  to  the  New  York  Post  office. 

Like  the  rest  of  the  professional  gentlemen,  the 
circus  performer  is  very  improvident.  Generally,  he 
runs  to  diamonds,  when  flush,  and  is  very  partial  to 
champagne  and  other  fluids  that  come  high,  not 
worth  drinking  otherwise;  add  to  this,  fondness  for 
the  opposite  sex,  and  the  solution  is  easy.  Wine, 
women  and  diamonds:  a  strong  enough  trio  to  under- 
mine any  man.  There  was  one  smart  fellow  who 
travelled  with  the  circus — "candy-butcher," — I  be- 


c4  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

lieve  he  was,  who  made  a  practice  of  loaning  money 
to  the  performers  on  their  diamonds;  as  he  was  an  ex- 
cellent judge  of  a  stone,  he  was  seldom  taken  in,  and 
he  once  informed  me  privately,  that  he  considered  it 
a  mighty  poor  season  when  he  did  not  clear  two 
thousand  dollars.  Once  pawned,  the  actor  finds  it 
hard  work  to  redeem  the  article,  and  the  result  is  the 
loan  broker  often  clears  from  70  to  80  per  cent  on 
his  investment. 

For  three  weeks  I  filled  the  honorable  (?)  and 
arduous  position  of  "props"  to  the  greatest  set  of 
grumblers  on  the  road,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time 
an  incident  occurred  which  occasioned  a  decided 
change  in  my  mode  of  living,  and  of  which  I  was  not 
slow  to  take  advantage. 


SIXTH  EXTRACT. 

Among  the  many  startling  and  world-renowned 
wonders  the  show  advertised  was  the  "daring  bicycle 
act,  performed  in  mid-air,  on  a  wire  cable  stretched 
from  pole  to  centre-pole,  at  a  height  of  sixty  feet  from 
the  ground."  The  bicycle  was  fitted  with  a  double 
trapeze  which  hung  suspended  below  the  wire  cable 
and  was  attached  to  each  side  of  the  machine,  the  lat- 
ter running  in  a  deep  groove  over  the  wire.  While  the 
rider  worked  the  treadles  above  and  ran  the  bicycle 
from  pole  to  pole,  forward  and  backward,  three 
gymnasts  performed  some  very  clever  evolutions  be- 
low and  held  the  audience  spell-bound  as  they  gazed 
at  the  startling  exhibition. 

Soon  after  leaving  Wellington,  the  rider  of  the 
bicycle  was  taken  sick,  so  that  he -was  unable  to  per- 
form his  share  of  the  "great  sensational  act.''  As 
this  was  one  of  the  leading  features  of  the  show,  and 
had  been  extensively  filled,  it  was  absolutely  nec- 
cessary  to  get  a  substitute  to  fill  his  place.  One 


rg  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

would  imagine  this  would  be  easy  enough  among 
thirty  or  forty  performers  composed  of  gymnasts,  ac- 
robats and  riders,  but  such  was  not  the  case.  All 
these  individuals  had  a  specialty  of  their  own,  and  in 
their  line  were  very  clever  and  daring;  but  come  to 
try  them  on  a  new  tack  they  soon  sheered  off.  '-You 
cannot  teach  an  old  dog  new  tricks"  is  a  very  true 
saying.  I  have  observed  the  force  of  it  many  a  time. 
These  actors  were  bred  to  do  certain  things  on  a  cer- 
tain level;  raise  them  above  a  given  altitude,  and 
they  failed  at  once,  as  it  proved.  On  the  horizontal 
bars,  none  were  more  skillful  or  daring  than  those  we 
had;  you  could  find  few  better  leapers  or  tumblers 
anywhere,  or  finer  horsemen  than  those  attached  to 
the  circus;  but  all  their  acts  were  done  on  a  level; 
they  had  been  accustomed  to  it  for  years,  and  it 
meant  nothing  extraordinary  to  them,  although  the 
acme  of  daring  perfection  to  an  outsider. 

Each  individual  in  turn  mounted  to  where  the 
bicycle  swung  on  the  wire,  gave  a  look  below — usu- 
ally one  glance  was  enough — came  down,  and  at 
once  declined  the  proffered  position.  Their  answers 
varied  but  little — it  was  "too  high,  thank  you;  get 
some  one  else;  this  is  not  what  I  hired  out  for."  The 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE   WORLD.  57 

manager  was  in  despair;  some  one  must  be  sacrificed, 
or  the  act  would  have  to  be  "cut"  and  the  public 
would  be  furious. 

Finally,  he  was  informed  that  the  new  "props" 
had  been  a  "sailor"  and  perhaps  would  undertake 
the  billet.  At  this  time  I  was  reckless  enough  to 
attempt  anything,  no  matter  how  foolhardy  or  dan- 
gerous it  might  prove;  and  upon  being  interviewed 
by  the  manager  announced  my  willingness  to  try  it. 
Accordingly,  that  very  morning,  after  ring  practice 
with  the  horses,  I  mounted  to  the  wire,  and  after 
the  trapeze-performers  had  taken  their  respective 
positions  below  to  steady  the  machine,  I  climbed  on 
to  the  seat  and  let  go  the  chain  which  held  the 
bicycle  to  the  pole.  Away  we  went  down  the  grade, 
made  by  our  own  weight,  and  so  swiftly  that  I 
almost  fell  off,  and  gripped  the  handle  until  the 
blood  almost  burst  through  my  finger-tips.  All  I 
had  to  do  was  to  sit  there  and  work  the  treadles, 
stop  at  a  given  signal  for  the  performers  below  and 
work  back  again.  But,  ye  gods!  when  I  looked 
down,  my  hair  began  to  slowly  rise  and  my  teeth 
chattered  so  that  I  thought  they  would  drop  out.  I 


-o  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

5b 

know  the  few  gray  hairs  I  have  came  that  day  and 
upon  that  occasion,  but  with  an  effort  I  clinched 
my  teeth  and  determined  not  to  back  out. 

I  was  to  make  my  debut  that  afternoon  at  the 
matinee  performance,  and  in  due  time  found  my- 
self bowing  with  three  others  in  the  ring,  dressed  in 
a  suit  of  tights  and  spangles,  borrowed  from  the 
sick  gymnast's  wardrobe.  The  next  minute  I  was 
aloft  standing  on  the  narrow  wire — how  very  narrow 
it  seemed  then! — waiting  for  the  performers  below  to 
take  their  places.  As  the  bicycle  retained  its  equili- 
brium by  the  weight  of  the  bodies  on  the  trapeze,  it 
was  indispensable  they  should  always  be  first  on  and 
last  off,  a  rope  slung  from  the  pole  ring  above  aiding 
them  in  their  descent. 

As  I  took  my  seat  astride  the  machine  and  grace- 
fully waved  a  hand  to  the  audience,  with  an  appar- 
ent sang-froid  born  of  many  years  experience,  my 
heart,  or  liver,  tried  hard  to  force  an  exit,  and  I  hon- 
estly wished  myself  safe  on  terra  firma  again;  but  it 
was  only  the  beginning.  With  a  nervous  hand  I  let 
go  the  chain  that  held  us  to  the  pole,  and  with  both 
hands  glued  to  the  handle,  started  across  the  wire.  I 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  59 

had  often  heard  of  jumping  into  space;  this  was  liter- 
ally running  into  it. 

On  my  trial  trip  the  gymnasts  below  had  not 
tempted  to  rehearse  any  of  their  acts,  probably  know- 
ing that  I  would  back  out  entirely  if  they  did;  but 
once  up  there  before  the  audience,  and  I  was  at  their 
mercy.  Of  course  I  had  often  watched  them  perform 
from  below;  but  the  realization  makes  me  shudder 
yet. 

Two  men  and  a  girl  were  the  artists  and  they 
certainly  gave  a  startling  performance.  Hanging  by 
their  toes;  swinging  from  the  upper  to  the  lo\ver 
trapeze;  jumping  from  bar  to  bar  with  a  rapidity  as 
startling  as  it  was  marvellous,  caused  the  bicycle  to 
sway  from  side  to  side  with  dangerous  celerity  and 
produce  a  sickening  sensation  that  put  the  worst 
stage  of  mal-de-mer  in  the  shade.  The  exhibition 
closed  with  a  coup  de  main  that  sent  my  senses  wool- 
gathering, and  from  which  I  did  not  recover  until  I 
found  myself  safe  back  in  the  dressing  tent. 

On  the  last  trip  across,  the  lady  was  made  to 
drop  from  her  seat  on  the  lower  bar  into  the  arms  of 
one  of  the  acrobats  who  hung  in  mid-air,  suspended 


60  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

by  his  waistband,  which  was  clutched  by  his  com- 
rade, who  in  turn  hung  by  his  knees  from  the  bar 
above.  Dexterously  catching  her  by  the  right  hand 
and  left  ankle,  he  literally  turned  her  inside  out,  and 
holding  her  face  downward  in  this  position  we  slowly 
rode  back  to  the  starting  point. 

But  the  turn!  Well,  it  was  several  hours  before  I 
recovered  from  the  one  it  gave  me,  and  small  wonder 
either.  The  bicycle  rocked  wildly  from  right  to  left 
from  the  shock,  and  I  almost  lost  my  seat,  said  my 
prayers  quickly,  and  wondered  if  my  corpse  would  be 
greatly  disfigured.  Then,  as  the  machine  slowly 
righted,  I  mechanically  worked  the  treadles,  and  in 
two  minutes  the  ordeal  was  over,  and  back  in  the 
ring  we  were  bowing  ourselves  out  amid  the  bravas 
of  the  admiring  audience. 


SEVENTH  EXTRACT. 

I  was  paid  the  munificent  sum  of  £2  per  week 
(about  ten  dollars),  and  all  expenses,  to  risk  my  pre- 
cious neck  in  this  manner  twice  a  day.  Shakespeare 
sa\>  truly,  "  What  fools  mortals  be."  My  predecessor 
in  this  line  used  to  make  the  exhibition  still  more 
sensational  by  bringing  the  machine  to  a  dead  halt  in 
the  center  of  the  wire,  and  amid  the  breathless  suspense 
of  the  spectators  slowly  raise  his  feet  from  the  treadles, 
and  stand  with  his  head  upon  the  seat  and  feet  inverted 
directly  above  him,  one  of  the  acrobats  meanwhile 
grasping  the  wheel  and  cable  with  an  iron-like  clutch 
tc  prevent  its  slipping.  This  used  to  bring  down  the 
house  with  a  vengeance,  and  was  a  great  card.  I  omit- 
ted it,  however,  for  several  reasons  unnecessary  to  state 
here. 

The  first  few  days  of  this  sort  of  life  I  passed  in 
a  highly  nervous  state  ;  my  sleep  was  haunted  by  vis- 
ions of  frightful  accidents,  in  which  I  invariably  saw 


6  2  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

myself  carried  out  a  mangled  corpse  into  the  dressing- 
tent  on  one  of  the  hurdles  used  in  the  ring  and  cov- 
ered over  with  a  banner.  It  used  to  be  a  most  edifying 
spectacle,  and  I  usually  awoke  feeling  greatly  refreshed 
and  in  a  delightful  condition  for  the  day's  perform- 
ance. But  one  can  get  accustomed  to  most  anything, 
and  this  was  no  exception.  I  soon  felt  as  much  at 
home  on  the  wire  as  I  did  aloft  in  the  main-to' -gallant 
sail  on  ship. 

Such  is  the  perversity  of  human  nature  that  I 
shortly  found  myself  actually  enjoying  the  swaying  sen- 
sation and  awaited  impatiently  the  final  coup,  which 
was  in  reality  a  very  risky  piece  of  work  and  ought  to 
have  been  cut. 

For  two  months  I  traveled  with  the  circus  in  this 
capacity,  and  also  made  myself  useful  in  a  variety 
of  ways.  Generally,  when  my  act  was  over,  I  resumed 
my  ordinary  apparel,  and  after  the  clown  had  finished 
singing  his  comic  songs,  would  pass  around  the  audi- 
ence selling  "the  clown's  song-book,  containing  fifty 
different  songs,  the  most  popular  airs  of  the  day,  price 
only  a  sixpence,  with  a  picture  of  the  clown  on  the 
cover  of  each  book."  They  used  to  go  off  like  hot 


A   TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  63 

cakes,  but  it  was  in  the  country  towns  that  I  managed 
to  catch  most  nimble  sixpences.  Human  nature  is  just 
the  same  in  New  Zealand  as  in  Illinois,  or  any  other 
place  this  side  the  water. 

Living  behind  the  scenes  takes  all  the  romance 
out  of  the  exhibition.  Truly  "no  man  is  a  hero  to 
his  valet,"  and  perhaps  with  good  reason;  the  latter 
knows  him  too  well,  and  has  occasion  to  remember 
many  things  that  do  not  always  redound  to  said  hero's 
credit.  At  any  rate,  I  saw  very  little  to  admire  in  the 
array  of  talent  gathered  under  the  canvas  we  sported, 
and  made  few  acquaintances  among  them  ;  but  there 
was  one  man  that  I  greatly  admired  and  with  whom  I 
contracted  a  great  friendship. 

He  was  the  lion-tamer,  a  stalwart  six-footer,  mus- 
cular as  an  ox,  and  a  giant  in  strength.  He  used  to 
swear  like  a  trooper  upon  all  and  any  occasions,  no 
matter  how  trifling,  yet  never  in  a  passionate  way,  al- 
ways as  calmly  as  though  pronouncing  a  benediction 
instead  of  a  malediction.  This  was  his  greatest  fault, 
and  in  every  other  particular  he  was  a  splendid  fellow. 

His  performing  lions  were  very  much  attached  to 
him,  and  manifested  their  pleasure  by  various  signs 


64 


LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 


every  time  he  approached  the  cage  and  spoke;  but 
after  all  they  were  a  treacherous  pair,  and  he  never 
dared  turn  his  back  on  them  when  inside  the  den.  In 
addition  to  his  duties  as  lion-tamer,  he  was  also  ele- 
phant trainer,  and  "boss  menagerie  man,"  having  full 
charge  of  the  animals  attached  to  the  circus.  Among 
them  was  a  beautifully  spotted  tigress  that  he  received 
when  quite  young,  and  which  he  was  trying  to  break 
in  for  exhibition.  She  was  a  mean  devil,  however,  and 
many  were  the  deep  scratches  he  had  received  from 
her,  but  finally  an  event  occurred  that  gave  him  the 
complete  mastery.  It  was  at  a  place  called  Timaru, 
along  the  ninety-mile  beach  in  the  middle  island  of 
New  Zealand,  that  the  opportunity  came,  and  I  was  an 
eye-witness  to  it,  although  an  unwilling  one,  I  must 
admit.  The  afternoon  performance  was  over,  and 
feeding-time  had  arrived,  an  event  always  heralded  by 
loud-mouthed  roarings  and  deep  sullen  growls  from  the 
hungry  brutes  who  scented. the  banquet. 

The  tigress  was  in  a  particularly  ugly  mood  on  this 
occasion,  and  vented  her  spleen  in  a  series  of  prolong- 
ed elocutionary  efforts  that  I  especially  admired — from 
a  distance.  I  was  feeding  my  pet  monkey,  and  watch- 


A  TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  65 

ing  the  happy  family  in  their  many  playful  tricks,  when 
a  sudden  shriek  from  one  of  the  boys  made  me  turn 
quickly,  and  I  saw  the  tigress  was  loose.  By  some  means 
she  had  torn  up  the  floor  near  the  front  of  the  cage 
and  managed  to  squeeze  through,  reaching  in  three 
bounds  the  mass  of  ra\v  meat  lying  ready  for  distribu- 
tion opposite  her  den. 

In  less  than  a  minute  I  had  shinned  up  the  main 
guy  of  the  center  pole,  and  became  an  intensely  in- 
terested spectator  of  the  events  that  followed.  The 
lion-tamer  was  feeding  his  pets  with  choice  strips  of 
raw  beef,  when  he  heard  the  cry,  and  taking  in  the  sit- 
uation at  a  glance,  seized  his  heavy  whip,  loaded  with 
lead,  and  without  a  moment's  hesitation  approached 
the  escaped  brute.  For  a  second  she  cowed  beneath 
his  piercing  glance,  and  shrunk  back.  That  moment 
was  fatal  to  her ;  before  she  could  recover,  the  lion- 
tamer  swung  his  weapon,  and  with  a  well-directed  blow 
struck  her  directly  behind  the  right  ear,  felling  her  to 
the  earth.  Following  it  up  with  several  more,  deliv- 
ered with  an  equally  telling  effect,  she  was  soon  at  his 
mercy,  and  lay  a  quivering,  insensible  mass  of  flesh. 
Then  passing  a  strong  cord  around  her  neck  and  body, 


66  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

and  aided  by  the  assistants,  who,  like  myself,  had 
sought  safety  in  flight,  she  was  dragged  over  into  an 
empty  cage,  hoisted  up  and  securely  fastened  in. 

All  this  took  place  in  a  remarkably  short  time, 
and  was  over  before  any  outside  assistance  had  arrived, 
when  the  tigress  would  have  been  the  target  for  fifty 
bullets  ;  but  the  coolness  and  daring  displayed  by  my 
friend  I  shall  never  forget,  and  his  courage  can  never 
sufficiently  extol.  Shortly  after  this  another  incident 
occurred  of  a  very  different  nature,  and  although  in 
nowise  connected  with  the  lion-tamer,  was  the  means 
of  causing  us  to  part  company,  as  I  shall  presently 
show. 

In  every  department  attached  to  the  circus  there 
was  one  man  in  charge  who  held  more  or  less  authority 
over  the  balance  of  the  help  employed  in  the  same  ca- 
pacity, doing  the  same  quality  of  work.  For  instance, 
there  was  the  "boss  property  man,"  the  "menagerie 
boss,"  the  "boss  candy  butcher,"  the  "boss  canvas- 
man"  and  the  "boss  hostler." 

The  head  of  the  latter  department  was  consider- 
ed quite  a  power,  as  besides  having  full  charge  of  all 
the  valuable  ring  horses  and  magnificent  performing 


A   TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  67 

stallions  attached  to  the  show,  he  was  possessed  of  no 
small  skill  in  the  veterinary  healing  art,  and  this  was 
quite  an  item,  considering  the  number  of  cattle  under 
his  supervision,  and  being  constantly  on  the  move, 
they  demanded  close  attention. 

But  he  was  endowed  with  the  ugliest  temper  that 
any  mortal  man  was  ever  cursed  with,  and  many  a 
poor  wretch  has  reason  to  remember  his  advent  in  the 
far-away  latitudes  of  New  Zealand.  Upon  the  slight- 
est provocation  he  would  fly  into  a  most  fearful  passion 
and  vent  his  rage  upon  the  unfortunate  devil  who  had 
crossed  his  path,  not  alone  with  curses,  but  with  kicks 
and  blows,  delivered  with  telling  effect.  He  would 
snatch  up  the  first  thing  that  came  handy,  to  use  as  a 
weapon,  totally  indifferent  as  to  the  result  of  his  hasty 
action  ;  indeed,  the  more  severe  the  wounds  he  inflict- 
ed, the  better  he  seemed  to  like  it.  I  have  seen  him 
slash  a  poor  trembling  hostler,  who  perhaps  was  not 
currying  a  horse  to  his  satisfaction,  with  a  whip,  and 
raise  a  wheal  that  his  victim  would  carry  for  weeks. 
A  bucket  was  his  favorite  weapon,  and  I  could  not  but 
admire  the  accuracy  of  his  aim,  although  deploring 
the  result.  I  once  displeased  his  lordship,  and  carried 


53  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

a  bruise  for  six  weeks  between  my  shoulder  blades, 
the  result  of  a  well-thrown  curry-comb. 

He  lacked  about  two  inches  of  six  feet  in  height, 
had  a  massive  pair  of  shoulders,  and  was  built  like  a 
pugilist,  so  that  very  few  dared  retaliate,  though  many 
a  one  vowed  vengeance ;  but  as  a  rule  his  victims  did 
not  stay  long  under  his  wing,  and  he  was  continually 
hiring  new  hostlers,  so  that  comparatively  few  of  the 
help  knew  him  as  he  was. 

His  tyrannical  reign  came  to  an  end  in  rather  a 
tragic  manner,  however,  and  he  richly  deserved  his 
fate.  We  were  showing  at  a  small  town  in  the  interior 
of  the  south  island  when  the  event  occurred,  and  the 
performance  had  closed  for  the  night  in  a  pouring 
rain-storm.  Something  had  gone  wrong  with  the  trap- 
pings of  one  of  the  trick-horses  that  evening,  and  the 
ring-master  made  a  complaint  about  it  to  the  "  boss 
hostler." 

I  heard  the  conversation,  which  took  place  after 
the  show  was  over,  and  saw  "  Redney" — as  he  was 
nicknamed  from  his  blonde  moustache — stride  over 
to  the  stock  tent,  cursing  a  blue  streak,  and  threaten- 
ing to  kill  the  "black  devil."  I  knew  whom  he  meant 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE   WORLD.  69 

by  the  latter  appellation  well  enough,  for  it  was  the 
first  man  in  his  employ  who  had  dared  make  a  stand 
against  his  despotism,  and  was  the  hostler  whose  duty 
it  was  to  groom  the  trick-horse  and  arrange  its  trap- 
pings for  the  ring.  He  \vas  a  half-bred  Maori,  a  mus- 
cular,  wiry-looking  man,  of  perhaj>s  thirty  years  of 
age,  who  had  joined  the  circus  at  one  of  the  "stands" 
in  the  middle  island.  Wrapping  some  spare  canvas 
about  me,  as  a  partial  protection  from  the  pouring 
rain,  I  followed  Redney  to  his  quarters.  The  Maori 
was  lying  on  a  pile  of  hay  just  inside  the  tent,  and  by 
an  unfortunate  mischance,  happened  to  be  smoking. 
This  was  strictly  against  the  rules  about  the  stables, 
owing  to  the  inflammable  material  scattered  around, 
but  nevertheless  indulged  in  by  all  the  hostlers  sur- 
reptiously,  though  generally  during  the  absence  of 
their  chief. 

This  was  all  that  was  needed  to  work  Redney  in- 
to a  towering  passion ;  he  grew  fairly  livid  with  rage, 
and  losing  all  control,  seized  an  empty  bucket,  and 
brought  it  down  with  all  his  might  upon  the  half- 
breed's  back.  The  force  of  the  blow  broke  the  pail 
into  pieces,  and  was  enough  to  kill  an  ordinary  mor- 


_Q  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

tal.  But  the  Maori  was  tough,  and  though  he  howled 
from  pain,  he  was  eager  for  revenge — and  had  It. 

A  heavy  stake-pin  (such  as  was  used  for  the  large 
tent,  and  bound  with  an  iron  band)  was  lying  near, 
and  snatching  it  up,  the  dusky  giant  aimed  a  fearful 
blow  at  the  tyrant's  head,  which  fell  right  on  the  left 
temple,  and  Redney  dropped  like  a  log.  Not  con- 
tent with  this,  he  repeated  his  blows,  and  before 
any  one  could  interfere,  the  position  of  '-boss  host- 
ler" with  that  circus  stood  vacant. 

Realizing  his  deed,  the  murderer  did  not  wait 
for  "back  pay,"  but  darted  out  into  the  black,  pelt- 
ing storm  and  disappeared,  nor  was  much  effort  made 
to  catch  him,  for  in  their  hearts  nearly  all  the  wit- 
nesses to  the  deed  mentally  thanked  him  for  ridding 
the  earth  of  such  a  fiend. 

This  sickened  me  of  circus  life,  however.  Every 
time  the  trick-horse  that  had  been  the  innocent  cause 
of  the  quarrel  came  in  the  ring,  I  heard  those  heavy 
blows,  and  the  dull  thud  as  the  stake  came  in  contact 
with  the  quivering  flesh,  and  within  a  week  after  the 
events  just  recorded  I  had  quit  circus  life  forever. 


EIGHTH  EXTRACT. 

leaving  the  circus  at  Christchurch,  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Canterbury,  I  determined  to  again  try  the 
sea,  notwithstanding  my  recent  severe  experience;  so 
went  to  Port  Lyttleton,  which  is  nine  miles  from 
Christchurch,  and  there  made  application  aboard  sev- 
eral vessels  lying  in  port,  for  a  berth.  Being  unsuc- 
cessful, and  having  saved  a  little  sum  from  my  earn- 
ings while  with  the  show  people,  I  secured  passage  in 
one  of  the  Union  S.  S.  boats  about  to  leave  for  Dun- 
edin,  and  two  days  later  arrived  at  the  latter  town. 
Dunedin  is  one  of  the  principal  cities  in  New  Zealand  ; 
has  a  population  of  about  forty  thousand,  and  by  its 
numberless  hills,  very  much  resembles  Kansas  City  in 
appearance. 

I  stayed  here  nearly  two  weeks  without  obtain- 
ing employment  or  getting  a  ship,  and  my  finances 
were  again  deplorably  low,  when  by  a  lucky  accident 


-,  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

I  was  enabled  to  secure  a  berth  on  one  ot  the  vessels 
plying  between  New  Zealand  and  Australia. 

I  was  sitting  one  day  down  at  the  wharf,  perched 
upon  a  mooring  block,  and  in  a  very  meditative  mood 
was  reviewing  my  immediate  prospects,  which  were 
decidedly  discouraging,  when  the  steamer  for  Mel- 
bourne and  Sydney  came  alongside  and  was  made  fast. 

For  two  weeks  I  had  boarded  every  ship  that 
came  in,  and  applied  for  a  position  unsuccessfully,  and 
Melbourne  especially  was  my  objective  point ;  so  I 
mechanically  made  up  my  mind  to  interview  the  Cap- 
tain or  purser,  and  was  preparing  to  go  aboard,  when  I 
was  saluted  by  a  vigorous  slap  on  my  back,  and  heard 
my  name  loudly  called. 

Turning  hastily,  I  saw  a  young  colonial  from 
Auckland  with  whom  I  had  contracted  an  acquaint- 
ance when  in  that  town.  He  belonged  on  the  steamer 
just  arrived,  as  he  informed  me,  having  shipped  as 
brass-cleaner  and  lamp-trimmer  the  voyage  previous. 
Dave  was  the  only  name  I  knew  him  by,  but  I  remem- 
bered him  as  a  very  good-natured,  obliging  boy,  and 
relating  my  situation  to  him,  solicited  his  interest  on 
my  behalf  for  a  billet  on  the  boat.  This  he  gladly 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    1HE    WORLD.  73 

promised  to  do,  and  as  the  vessel  was  only  to  make  a 
short  stay,  he  hastened  aboard  to  intercede   for  me. 

While  I  felt  encouraged  by  his  sanguine  expec- 
tations, I  had  small  hopes  of  his  success,  for  it  is  no 
easy  matter  to  get  on  these  boats  without  good  rec- 
ommendations ;  so  I  sat  dangling  my  heels  against 
my  perch  until  he  returned. 

By  a  streak  of  luck  (or  was  it  fate  ?)  he  had  been 
successful ;  they  had  a  large  jjassenger  list,  were  short 
handed  in  the  galley,  and  on  Davey's  recommenda- 
tion, I  was  shipped  to  fill  the  void.  In  less  than  half 
an  hour  I  had  my  effects  stored  away  under  Davey's 
locker  on  the  ship,  and  seated  on  an  inverted  bucket 
in  the  galley,  was  peeling  "spuds"  for  dear  life. 

My  intention  was,  when  we  arrived  at  Melbourne, 
to  quit  the  ship  at  once,  but  from  this  I  was  dissuaded 
by  my  friend ;  indeed,  when  we  reached  there  one 
of  the  understewards  left,  and  being  offered  the  billet, 
I  accepted.  From  Melbourne  we  went  to  Sydney,  and 
from  thence  to  Auckland  and  Wellington,  making  the 
round  trip. 

By  the  time  we  arrived  at  the  latter  place  I  had 
made  many  friends  on  the  ship,  and  enjoyed  the  life 


LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

74 

hugely.  Our  passengers  had  been  remarkably  gener- 
ous and  gay,  and  got  up  many  pleasant  entertainments, 
in  which  all  the  cabin  crew  were  invited  to  join.  On 
the  return  trip  from  Sydney  to  Wellington,  the  cabin 
passengers  gave  a  very  good  upper-deck  entertain- 
ment for  the  benefit  of  the  Shipwrecked  Mariner's 
Society.  The  Captain  draped  the  after-deck  very 
prettily  with  flags  and  bunting,  the  piano  was  brought 
up  from  the  saloon,  and  the  sailors,  dressed  in  their 
best  outfits,  with  their  blue  jerseys  and  white  hats, 
were  distributed  here  and  there  among  the  passengers, 
and  made  a  very  pleasing  effect.  The  water  was 
smooth,  the  moon  at  her  full,  and  above  us  the  clear 
Southern  Cross,  surrounded  by  a  myriad  of  lesser 
stars,  shone  brightly  upon  the  scene.  The  home  tal- 
ent was  very  clever,  and  all  who  did  not  take  part  in 
the  program  were  delighted  to  contribute  their  mite 
and  appear  only  as  the  audience.  Vocal  and  instru- 
mental music,  both  on  piano  and  guitar,  with  recita- 
tions from  popular  authors,  helped  pass  a  very  pleasant 
evening.  I  was  put  on  the  program  as  a  representative 
of  the  understewards  for  a  recitation,  and  gave  them 
Will  Carleton's  touching  ballad,  "Betsy  and  I  are 


A   TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  75 

Out."  Probably  few  there  had  ever  heard  of  Will 
Carleton  or  his  poems  before,  but  this  simple  farm- 
house ballad  endeared  him  to  all,  and  he  was  declared 
a  true  poet,  inasmuch  as  he  touched  the  heart.  After 
this  the  deck  was  cleared  of  the  benches;  a  lady  seated 
herself  at  the  piano,  struck  up  a  lively  waltz  tune, 
and  passengers  and  crew  commingled  in  threading 
the  "mazy." 

Thus  we  passed  the  time  pleasantly  in  fine  weath- 
er, and  I  wish  it  could  have  been  like  this  always ; 
but  as  I  write  only  facts,  I  must  shortly  present  a  far 
different  picture.  At  Auckland  and  Wellington  we 
bc-gun  taking  on  passengers  for  Australian  ports,  and 
when  we  arrived  at  Port  Lyttleton  our  numbers  were 
swelled  by  a  large  delegation  of  ministers  who  with 
their  families  were  going  to  South  Australia  to  attend 
a  conference.  Altogether  we  had  some  seventy  or 
eighty  steerage  passengers,  and  forty  or  fifty  in  the 
first  and  second  cabin. 

Our  boat,  the  "Koturah,"  was  not  one  of  the 
best  in  the  line,  but  it  was  a  good  stout  vessel,  and, 
having  been  recently  overhauled  and  repaired,  was 
considered  perfectly  safe.  Our  skipper,  Captain  Bar- 


76 


LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 


ret,  although  a  young  man,  was  very  much  liked  in 
the  service,  not  only  for  the  excellent  seamanlike 
qualities  he  possesed,  but  also  for  his  amiable  disposi- 
tion. 

The  passage  from  Dunedin  to  the  Bluff,  at  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  island,  is  a  very  dangerous 
one,  and  in  "consequence  of  the  rocky  coast,  a  vessel 
requires  rather  nice  handling,  especially  as  her  course 
in  some  parts  lies  right  between  dangerous  reefs  on 
one  side  and  several  half-submerged  rocks  on  the 
other. 

We  completed  our  passenger  list  at  Dunedin 
and  left  there  Tuesday  afternoon,  every  one  antici- 
pating a  quick  trip  to  Melbourne,  and  retiring  that 
evening  full  of  hope  at  the  bright  prospect.  I  turned 
in  at  half  past  nine,  very  tired,  and  fell  asleep  imme- 
diately, being  too  weary  to  talk  to  my  chum,  Davey, 
whom  I  never  spoke  to  again. 

I  awoke  about  five,  and  was  dressing  very  leis- 
urely, when  I  heard  a  rush  of  hasty  footsteps  on  deck, 
and  had  just  slipped  on  my  vest,  when  suddenly  the 
ship  struck  with  a  great  shock  against  some  obstacle, 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE   WORLD.  77 

seemed  to  shiver  all  over,  and  then  bumped  contin- 
uously. 

Putting  on  my  coat  I  rushed  at  once  on  deck ;  it 
was  then  about  5.15  a.  m.,  but  though  the  stars  still 
appeared  overhead,  a  heavy  mist  concealed  the  land 
from  view,  for  it  was  evident,  by  the  repeated  concus- 
sions, that  the  vessel  had  gone  on  the  rocks.  The 
engines  had  been  stopped  immediately,  and  reversed, 
but  too  late  to  be  of  service ;  we  were  fast  between 
two  nasty-looking,  gaping  rocks. 

The  scene  that  followed  the  first  shock  is  some- 
thing frightful  to  contemplate,  and  I  feel  sick  at  heart 
as  I  recall  the  dreadful  sights.  The  bumpings  con- 
tinued incessantly,  and  the  ship  very  soon  began  to 
fill  with  water,  which  poured  in  from  a  big  gash  made 
in  her  stern  quarter. 

Men,  women  and  children  rushed  on  deck,  all 
in  various  stages  of  undress,  screaming  and  yelling  in 
a  most  heart-rending  manner. 

I  have  seen  many  strange  and  startling  sights ; 
but  this  was  most  dreadful !  Captain  Barrett,  to  his 
credit  be  it  said,  was  very  calm  and  collected.  All 


yg  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

hands  were  ordered  on  deck,  and  a  boat  was  at  once 
cleared  for  lowering.  The  steerage  passengers,  who 
came  crowding  up,  tried  to  force  their  way  in,  but  the 
Captain  stood  his  ground  firmly  and  ordered  them 
back,  swearing  he  would  throw  the  first  man  over- 
board who  attempted  to  crowd  in.  This  had  the 
desired  effect,  and  in  a  little  while  order  was  par- 
tially restored. 

By  this  time  the  boat  was  lowered,  but  no  soon- 
er had  it  struck  the  water  than  it  was  lifted  right  clear 
off  the  tackle  and  dashed  against  the  ship's  side,  filling 
and  sinking  at  once.  The  Captain  then  ordered  the 
port  boat  to  be  cleared,  it  being  much  calmer  on  that 
side,  and  about  six  o'clock,  nearly  an  hour  after  the 
vessel  struck,  the  first  boat  was  safely  lowered. 

Into  this  were  placed  the  second  officer,  Mr.  Ri- 
ley,  with  four  sailors  and  one  passenger,  who  volun- 
teered to  go  ashore  for  assistance.  They  had  been 
absent  about  half  an  hour  when  Riley  returned,  saying 
it  was  impossible,  on  account  of  the  heavy  surf,  to 
get  within  five  hundred  feet  of  the  shore ;  but  the 
passenger,  a  young  man  from  Auckland,  named  Ca- 
rey, had  jumped  overboard  and  swum  safely  to  land, 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    1HE   WORLD.  79 

as  he  had  been  seen  climbing  the  hill  for  help. 
This  was  bad  news,  as  it  became  evident  no  wo- 
men or  children,  or  in  fact  any  but  good  swimmers, 
stood  much  chance  in  that  direction,  and  we  anxiously 
awaited  the  Captain's  decision. 

Meanwhile  the  women  and  children  were  all 
moved  forward  to  the  smoking-room  on  deck  for  safe- 
ty, the  seas  making  frightful  sweeps  over  the  after-part 
of  the  vessel.  Another  boat  being  lowered,  the  Cap- 
tain called  for  volunteers — those  only  who  could  swim 
— and  six  of  the  steerage  passengers  pressed  forward. 

It  looked  then  to  us  as  though  the  vessel  was  the 
safest  place,  which  I  think  accounts  for  the  few  who 
offered  to  leave. 

The  second  boat  was  entrusted  to  the  chief  offi- 
cer, with  orders  to  get  a  line  ashore  from  the  reef  if 
possible. 

In  this  boat  were  the  mate,  the  six  passengers, 
four  sailors,  and  (as  I  afterwards  learned)  little  Davey. 

They  never  came  back.  I  did  not  know  their 
fate  at  the  time,  but  from  one  of  the  passengers  in  the 
boat,  who  escaped,  and  whose  account  of  the  wreck  I 


g0  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

afterwards  read  in  the  Melbourne  papers,  I  learned 
they  proceeded  all  right  until  within  a  few  hundred 
feet  of  the  shore,  when  a  blind  roller  struck  the  boat 
right  in  the  stern,  making  her  turn  a  complete  som- 
ersault and  sending  the  occupants  in  every  direction. 
All  managed  to  get  ashore,  he  stated,  except  little 
Davey,  who  sat  on  the  same  seat  with  him. 

Just  before  the  wave  struck,  Davey,  who  had  been 
crying,  said  :  "  It's  all  through  me;  it's  all  on  account 
of  my  bad  luck  that  the  vessel  struck,  for  I  carry  it  with 
me,  wherever  I  go. ' '  Poor  boy  !  these  were  probably 
his  last  words,  for  he  never  got  ashore  alive. 

As  he  was  a  good  swimmer,  I  think  he  must  have 
been  struck  by  the  boat  and  perhaps  stunned,  for  two 
others  of  the  crew  were  injured  in  a  like  manner, 
although  escaping  with  their  lives. 

The  boat  not  returning,  Riley  was  ordered  to  take 
three  of  the  crew  and  three  of  the  passengers  (swim- 
mers) and  endeavor  to  pass  a  line  ashore  from  the 
reef. 

By  this  time  it  was  about  10  o'ciock,  and  we  had 
had  plenty  of  time  to  view  our  position.  We  were 
ashore  on  a  very  dangerous  reef,  the  swell  being  ter- 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  8l 

rific  at  this  point  and  making  clean  breaches  over  the 
vessel,  carrying  passengers  and  cabin-fixtures  at  every 
wash  of  the  sea,  and  sweeping  off  everything  that 
offered  the  least  resistance. 


NINTH  EXTRACT. 

;  I  cannot  conceive  how  we  came  to  be  so  near 

in  shore,  but  from  what  the  Captain  said  later  I  think 
he  mistook  his  position  on  account  of  the  heavy  fog, 
and  not  making  due  allowance  for  the  southern  swell, 
imagined  he  was  much  farther  out.  When  the  ship 
first  struck,  the  second  mate  was  in  charge;  the  ves- 
sel was  then  running  about  ten  knots  an  hour,  a  good 
average  speed.  The  look-out,  thinking  he  heard  the 
breakers,  reported  to  the  second  mate,  who  ran  to 
call  the  Captain,  instead  of  acting  at  once  himself, 
valuable  time  being  lost,  that  proved  fatal.  The  Cap- 
tain came  immediately  on  deck,  took  in  the  situation 
at  a  glance,  ordered  the  helm  hard-a-starboard  and 
the  engines  stopped  and  reversed,  but  before  she 
could  come  round,  on  account  of  great  headway  she 
went  on  the  reefs. 

Mr.  Riley  having  left  the  vessel  the  Captain  gave 
orders  for  the  women  and  children  to  be  removed 
still  further  forward — from  the  smoking  room  to  the 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    1HE   WORLD.  83 

forecastle,  as  her  bows  being  wedged  in  the  reef,  it 
was  by  far  the  safest  part  of  the  ship.  Twelve  o'clock 
came,  and  Riley  not  having  returned,  Captain  Barrett 
requested  the  cook  to  try  and  pass  some  kind  of  food 
forward  for  the  crew  and  passengers  as  none  had 
broken  fast  so  far  that  day. 

For  this  purpose  a  line  was  fastened  around  the 
cook  and  myself,  and  watching  our  opportunity  we 
presently  managed  to  steal  aft,  and  fish  up  some 
crackers,  cheese  and  cold  meat;  this  was  all  we  could 
obtain,  and  drenched  through,  we  were  hauled  for- 
ward. 

I  do  not  believe  any  of  us  realized  just  then  our 
imminent  peril,  for  being  so  close  to  land  and  the  fog 
having  lifted,  we  could  plainly  discern  the  forms  of 
the  people  on  shore.  It  was  not  until  Riley's  absence 
was  so  prolonged  that  hope  began  to  fail  us,  for  the 
tide  coming  in  the  sea  was  much  rougher  and  was 
pouring  through  the  ship,  so  that  we  expected  mom- 
entarily she  would  break  up. 

During  a  temporary  lull  we  saw  Riley  trying  to 
make  up  to  us.  but  it  was  next  to  an  impossibility  for 
him  to  come  alongside  on  account  of  the  terrific 


g^  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

swell,  and  with  aching  hearts  we  saw  him,  after  re- 
peated efforts,  finally  give  up,  and  pull  out  to  sea, 
where  it  was  much  calmer. 

At  about  three  in  the  afternoon,  the  Captain 
gave  up  all  hope.  Just  as  he  was  about  to  lower  the 
remaining  boats,  a  heavy  sea  carried  away  the  long- 
boat, cutter  and  dingy  at  one  swoop,  and  we  were 
completely  at  the  mercy  of  the  waves.  I  stood  by  the 
skipper's  side  hanging  on  to  a  stanchion  when  this 
happened,  and  he  groaned  out,  "My  God!  what  am  I 
to  do  now?  I  have  done  my  level  best,  and  have  no 
more  boats  available!" 

These,  our  dernier  resort,  being  gone,  there  was 
a  rush  to  the  opposite  side,  although  for  what  purpose 
I  could  not  exactly  fathom.  About  twenty  passen- 
gers were  then  hanging  on  to  the  taffrail,  when  a 
monstrous  wave  broke  over  them;  the  rail  suddenly 
gave  way  under  the  enormous  pressure,  and  without 
a  moment's  warning  they  were  precipitated  into  the 
raging  sea. 

Such  a  frightful,  unearthly  yell  of  despair  I  never 
heard  before  or  since,  and  can  liken  it  to  nothing. 
We  were  completely  paralyzed  by  this  appalling  cat- 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  85 

astrophe,  and  could  scarcely  speak,  the  shock  was  so 
fearful.  It  was  a  matter  of  impossibility  to  render 
them  the  slightest  assistance,  for  although  two  or  three 
were  seen  struggling  near  the  ship,  the  seas  kept 
breaking  over  us  with  such  violence,  no  one  dared 
quit  his  position  of  temporary  safety  for  an  instant, 
and  the  poor  wretches  were  swallowed  up  before  our 
very  eyes. 

It  was  now  about  four  o'clock,  and  our  position 
was  wretched  in  the  extreme.  All  who  had  survived 
so  far,  had  been  soaked  through  by  the  salt  water 
since  early  noon,  and  many  of  the  women-folks  had 
nothing  on  but  their  under-clothing  and  in  some 
cases  with  only  a  ship's  blanket  wrapped  round  their 
damp  night-dresses. 

We  were  now  collected  in  a  huddled  mass  in 
the  forecastle,  the  only,  comparatively,  safe  place  on 
the  ship;  in  all  about  twenty  persons,  men  women 
and  children,  that  were  left  out  of  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  souls. 

These  were  one  of  the  ministers,  an  elderly  gen- 
tleman with  long  white  beard,  who  sat  completely  un- 
nerved and  heart-broken,  yet  tried  his  best  to  offer 


g5  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

spiritual  consolation  to  the  poor,  shivering  creatures 
around  him;  but  who  had  lost  wife,  children  and 
brother  ministers  in  the  last  terrible  wash  of  the  sea. 
With  him,  reclining  at  his  feet,  was  a  young  gir 
of  about  sixteen,  whom  I  had  particularly  noticed  at 
Port  Lyttleton,  when  she  came  aboard,  with  rosy  red 
cheeks  and  bright  laughing  eyes.  Poor  girl;  she  had 
lost  father,  mother  and  friends  in  the  remorseless  deep, 
and  was  completely  prostrated  by  grief.  She,  with 
three  others,  were  the  only  females  left  out  of  twenty- 
five.  Of  these  were  the  purser's  wife;  a  young  lady 
from  Christ  Church,  N.  Z.,  on  her  way  to  Geelong  to 
be  married,  and  a  lady  from  Wellington,  the  latter 
being  in  company  with  a  gentleman;  all  were  saloon 
passengers.  Beside  these  were  the  Captain,  steerage 
steward,  second  engineer  (with  a  broken  leg),  the 
purser,  four  passengers,  two  brothers  (saloon)  English 
tourists  on  their  way  home,  the  ship's  carpenter, 
three  sailors,  myself  and  with  me  a  little  baby  girl  of 
five  years,  the  chief  engineer's  little  daughter,  who 
himself  was  one  of  the  first  washed  overboard;  the  lit- 
tle girl  was  in  charge  of  the  stewardess,  but  she  being 
drowned,  I  had  constituted  myself  her  protector. 


A  TRAMP   AROUND    1HE    WORLD.  87 

1  do  not  pretend  to  say  that  I  was  any  braver 
or  even  as  brave  as  the  rest,  but  I  will  say  this:  some- 
how from  the  first  I  felt  convinced  my  time  had  not 
yet  come,  and  this  seemed  to  force  itself  powerfully 
upon  me,  and  gave  me  a  certain  degree  of  calmness 
that  I  can  account  for  in  no  other  way. 

Captain  Barrett  presented  a  most  commiserating 
appearance,  and  his  remorse  must  have  been  frightful, 
for  had  he,  when  the  vessel  first  struck,  ordered  all 
the  boats  lowered  and  put  out  to  sea  to  chance  being 
picked  up  by  a  passing  vessel,  instead  of  trying  to  ef- 
fect a  landing  on  the  inhospitable  coast,  no  doubt 
many,  if  not  all,  would  have  escaped  with  life.  It 
certainly  was  an  error  of  judgment  on  his  part,  but  I 
am  not  his  judge,  and  he  has  gone  to  a  higher  trib- 
unal to  answer  for  all. 

When  the  vessel  first  went  on  the  rocks  he  had 
been  struck  by  part  of  the  steering  apparatus  across 
the  forehead,  inflicting  a  frightful  gash,  much  blood 
flowing  from  the  wound;  this  he  had  hastily  staunch- 
ed by  tying  a  handkerchief  around  it,  nor  had  he 
been  able  to  attend  to  it  since.  Pale  from  loss  of 
blood,  and  weak  from  constant  exertion,  his  face 


gg  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

streaked  with  the  red  fluid,  bareheaded  and  with 
handkerchief  grimed  with  blood  and  dirt,  he  was  in- 
deed a  pitiable  object.  He  did  all  that  could  be  done 
by  ordinary  mortal  to  save  the  lives  under  hischarge; 
and  if  he  made  a  mistake,  he  did  what  he  thought 
•>vas  for  the  best. 

I  can  scarcely  write  what  I  now  have  to  tell  and 
many  will  affirm  it  to  be  incredible,  but  I  call  God 
to  witness  it  is  the  solemn  truth. 

The  purser  was  a  young  man  of  perhaps  twenty- 
six,  a  very  pleasant,  affable  fellow,  who  had  been 
married  only  some  seven  or  eight  months,  and  was 
taking  his  young  wife  to  Melbourne  to  her  mother's, 
she  being  in  very  delicate  health.  It  does  seem  rather 
strange  that  she  should  have  made  this  journey  in 
her  peculiar  state,  but  tempted  by  the  previous  beau- 
tiful weather  and  being  anxious  to  be  with  her 
mother  in  her  hour  of  trial,  that  lady  not  being  able 
to  leave  home,  she  had  at  last  made  up  her  mind  to 
make  the  journey.  She  was  rather  a  weak,  timid 
little  thing,  and  the  sad  sights  appeared  to  have 
made  a  powerful  impression  on  her,  but  we  were 
scarcely  prepared  for  what  follows. 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    1HE    WORLD.  89 

At  4:30  p.  m.,  one  of  the  sailors,  lashed  to  the 
foremast  above,  suddenly  shouted  "Lights!  lights!  A 
boat  in  sight!"  Many  at  once  rushed  on  deck,  hold- 
ing on  to  whatever  came  handy,  and  expecting  in- 
stant rescue. 

I  looked  at  the  Captain,  but  he  shook  his  head 
despairingly,  and  indeed  my  own  sense  told  me  no 
boat  could  possibly  approach  anyway  near  the  treach- 
erous rocks  to  be  of  assistance;  and  so  it  proved. 

After  trying  in  vain  to  beat  up  toward  us,  she 
was  compelled  at  last,  for  her  own  safety,  to  bear 
out  to  sea.  When  the  lights  presently  disappeared, 
and  all  knew  there  was  no  further  chance  (for  this 
had  been  the  only  hope  to  buoy  us  up  since  the  loss 
of  the  small  boats),  the  scene  became  utterly  indes- 
cribable. 

With  a  fearful  scream  the  purser's  wife  suddenly 
fell  senseless  by  the  foremast,  round  which  we  had  con- 
gregated, and  in  the  midst  of  the  raging  storm  and 
seas  that  broke  over  us  incessantly,  gave  birth  to  a 
child,  which,  of  course,  was  dead  ere  it  came  into 
the  world. 

As  soon  as  we  had  recovered  to  some  extent  our 


q0  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

bewildered  senses,  several  pressed  forward  with  the 
intention  of  carrying  the  poor  lady  below,  but  in 
this  they  were  frustrated  by  the  husband,  who,  poor 
fellow,  had  seemed  utterly  paralyzed  with  horror  at 
the  awful  spectacle.  With  a  yell  which  told  us  rea- 
son had  fled,  so  wildly  demoniacal  was  it,  he  forced 
the  horror-stricken  spectators  aside,  picked  up  his 
wife's  form  as  though  she  were  a  mere  feather;  and 
before  we  could  stay  or  speak  to  him,  leaped  over- 
board into  the  boiling,  raging  ocean. 

God  in  heaven!  such  a  fearful,  blood-curdling 
sight  never  was  before,  and  for  a  moment  we  forgot 
our  own  misery  in  the  contemplation  of  a  greater. 
But  the  waves  now  made  it  an  impossibility  to  stay 
on  deck,  and  we  cautiously  crept  back  to  the  fore- 
castle below,  intending  to  keep  the  sad  scene  a  secret 
from  the  surviving  females  if  possible,  but  alas!  it  had 
been  witnessed  by  the  Wellington  lad}'  who  had 
stood  clinging  to  the  companion  ladder,  and  had 
plainly  seen  the  double  tragedy. 

Uttering  a  ghastly  shriek,  she  fell  upon  her  face 
and  prayed  God  at  once  to  kill  her  for  her  wicked- 
ness; in  wild  ravings  she  called  upon  her  companion 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    1HE   WORLD.  9! 

to  put  an  end  to  her  existence.  From  her  many  inco- 
herent mutterings  we  learned  that  she,  with  the  gen- 
tleman accompanying  her,  had  each  left  home  and 
relatives,  and  in  guilty  consort  were  fleeing  from  an 
injured  husband  and  deserted  wife.  In  vain  her  guilty 
paramour  tried  to  soothe  and  pacify  her;  she  refused 
his  offerings  with  loathing,  and  spurned  him  from 
her.  After  a  while  she  became  somewhat  calmer, 
but  continued  her  meanings,  which  were  dismal  and 
heart-breaking  enough. 

God  knows  we  had  enough  misery  without  this 
final  touch,  and  were  completely  dumb  and  appalled 
at  this  final  denouement.  It  was  now  about  six 
o'clock,  and  we  were  unable  from  the  grcwing  dark- 
ness to  see  each  others'  faces,  small  comfort  as  that 
was.  Some  few,  however,  had  wax  matches,  and 
these  were  burned  far  into  the  night. 

The  men  were  mostly  without  coats  or  hats, 
those  articles  have  been  long  since  parted  with  to  the 
women  folks  who  had  perished  in  the  waves.  I  was 
without  coat  or  hat,  even  my  vest  I  had  given  away; 
but  so  were  my  fellow-sufferers,  so  I  would  not  com- 
plain; indeed,  I  could  not,  for  the  prospective  bride 


p2  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

(poor  girl,  destined  to  be  the  bride  of  Death  only) 
had  on  my  coat  and  hat,  forced  upon  her  shivering 
form,  and  my  little  curly-headed  charge  was  envel- 
oped in  my  vest,  not  that  I  am  so  large,  but  she  was 
so  very  small. 

The  boat  was  now  fast  breaking  up.  and  we 
scarcely  expected  to  survive  the  night.  At  twelve 
o'clock,  midnight,  by  the  captain's  watch,  after  be- 
ing on  the  rocks  all  that  terrible  eternity  of  a  day, 
we  bade  each  other  Good-by!  and  after  a  touching 
prayer  by  the  good  old  minister,  committed  ourselves 
to  God. 

The  water  was  then  breaking  through  the  tim- 
bers into  the  forecastle,  and  it  became  necessary  to 
seek  other  quarters.  The  vessel  was  gradually  set- 
tling and  as  a  last  resort  we  were  compelled  to  take 
to  the  rigging.  This  we  finally  succeeded  in  doing 
after  incredible  labor,  the  captain  taking  charge  of 
the  young  girl.  Carrying  her  in  his  arms  and  followed 
by  the  white-haired  old  preacher  they  were  finally 
made  fast  in  the  foretop.  The  second  engineer,  a 
brave,  true-hearted  man,  managed  to  crawl  to  a  place 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  waves,  although  suffering 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    1HE   WORLD.  93 

tortures  from  his  unset  broken  arm.  I,  with  my  pro- 
tege tied  around  my  waist,  her  little  arms  clasped 
tightly  round  my  neck,  succeeded  in  reaching  a  posi- 
tion near  the  captain,  and  close  by,  supported  by  the 
fore-cabin  steward,  a  young  Tasmanian,  was  the  un- 
fortunate Geelong  lady.  What  became  of  the 
wretched  couple  from  Wellington  I  know  not,  for 
when  I  left  to  creep  aloft  the  man  was  vainly  endeav- 
oring to  persuade  his  companion  to  move;  my  im- 
pression is  he  stayed  below  with  her,  and  they  per- 
ished together. 

Meanwhile,  the  people  on  shore  had  lit  huge 
fires,  which  we  could  plainly  s'ee,  and  several  for.ns 
were  discerned  flitting  about.  I  am  sure  we  were 
apparent  to  them,  for  the  glare  of  the  fire  shone 
plainly  upon  the  wreck,  but  it  would  have  been  mad- 
ness to  venture  out  to  us;  a  boat  would  have  been 
smashed  upon  the  rocks  instantly. 


TENTH    EXTRACT. 

Cold,  hungry  and  wet  to  the  skin,  many  shrieked 
and  craved  for  death  to  relieve  their  sufferings,  but 
had  not  sufficient  courage  to  jump  into  eternity;  just  so 
long  as  the  timbers  kept  above  water  so  would  they, 
and  they  fought  for  life  till  the  very  last. 

The  matches  were  long  since  exhausted,  and 
about  two  o'clock  Capt.  Barrett,  who  was  immedi- 
ately below  me,  cried  out,  "God  help  us  all,  we  are 
going  fast." 

This  was  only  too  evident,  for  even  by  the  fit- 
ful glare  from  shore  we  could  plainly  see  the  upper 
deck  was  completely  submerged.  What  I  felt  I  can 
scarcely  describe;  but  I  know  I  made  many  good  res- 
olutions for  the  future  in  case  my  life  was  spared,  for 
somehow  I  still  had  the  notion  strong  within  me  that 
I  should  be  saved;  but  how?  I  had  not  the  least  idea. 
There  certainly  was  no  immediate  prospect. 

And  now  the  little  girl  who  had  been    remarka- 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    1HE   WORLD.  95 

bly  good  began  moaning  for  her  papa,  and  cried 
piteously  for  something  to  eat.  I  own  that  I  cried 
like  a  baby  with  her,  only  softly  to  myself. 

At  three  o'clock  the  waves  washed  over  us  as  we 
sank  lower  and  lower,  and  we  were  face  to  face  with 
Death  trembling  on  the  verge  of  the  Unknown.  The 
good  old  minister  had  long  since  dropped  exhausted 
into  the  sea,  his  lashings  having  parted,  and  there 
were  only  about  eight  in  all  left  to  linger  on. 

We  were  now  level  with  the  water,  and  it  was 
plain  all  was  over.  Slipping  my  lashings,  1  began  to 
prepare  for  the  worst,  for  although  I  knew  a  swim- 
mer had  small  chance  in  such  a  sea  and  among  the 
jagged  rocks,  still  I  was  bound  to  make  a  bold  fight 
for  life. 

Just  as  I  was  about  to  mount  still  higher,  hoping 
to  escape  by  clinging  to  the  mast,  in  case  all  was  not 
submerged,  an  immense  wave  struck  me,  and,  loosing 
my  grip,  I  was  dashed  off  from  the  rigging  into  the 
foaming  billows. 

Down  !  down  !  I  went,  meantime  holding  my 
breath,  and  trying  hard  to  retain  my  senses,  for  in 
the  midst  of  all,  I  could  still  argue  to  myself.  When 


96  LEAVES   FROM   A   DIARY. 

I  arose  I  struck  wildly  out  and  had  not  taken  half  a 
dozen  strokes  when  my  hands  came  in  contact  with 
a  hard  substance.  I  grasped  at  it,  and  finding  it  was 
large  and  apparently  capable  of  sustaining  my  weight 
I  clambered  up,  and  found  to  my  joy  it  was  a  cum- 
brous sea-chest,  floating  about  securely  fastened  and 
perfectly  water  tight. 

But  great  Heavens!  My  little  baby  girl  was 
gone.  How,  when  or  where  she  was  parted  from  me 
I  have  not  the  slightest  conception;  for  having  had 
her  arms  about  my  neck  so  long,  I  imagined  until 
I  struck  the  chest  that  I  held  her  safely  and  that 
she  still  clung  to  me. 

The  terrible  shock,  when  I  struck  the  water, 
must  have  parted  us,  and  in  the  struggle  for  life 
I  had  not  noticed — being  half  dazed — her  disap- 
pearance. 

Poor  little  thing!  it  was  certainly  all  for  the 
best.  Had  she  lived,  her  lot  would  have  been  a 
hard  one;  her  father  and  mother  both  gone  and 
she  friendless  and  alone,  so  God  in  His  mercy  took 
her  home  to  rejoin  them. 

I  myself,  however,  was  by  no  means    safe,  for 


A   TRAMP    AROUND    1HE    WORLD.  97 

the  waves  tossed  me  up  and  down  like  mere  cork. 
Blinded  and  half-choked  by  the  briny  water,  it 
was  a  hard  matter  to  hang  on  to  the  chest,  and 
had  it  not  been  for  a  cord  that  was  fastened  se- 
curely round  it  and  which  I  gripped  with  the 
strength  of  despair,  I  certainly  must  have  been 
washed  off. 

Fortunately  for  me,  when  I  fell,  it  was  on  that 
side  farthest  from  the  reef,  so  that  instead  of  be- 
ing carried  on  to  rocks,  where  I  would  have  been 
instantly  dashed  to  pieces,  I  was  gradually  being 
washed  out  to  sea,  and  the  farther  I  got  from  land 
the  calmer  it  became.  To  this  circumstance  alone 
do  I  attribute  my  escape,  for  now,  if  I  could  only 
manage  to  stick  to  my  strange  life-preserver,  I  had 
some  show  of  being  picked  up  by  a  vessel. 

As  soon  as  it  began  to  get  calmer  I  endeavor- 
ed to  pierce  the  gloom  for  a  sight  of  the  ill-fated 
ship  I  had  been  so  forcibly  parted  from.  But  I  could 
not  even  hear  the  breakers,  and  must  have  drifted  out 
a  much  greater  distance  than  I  deemed  possible  in 
the  time. 

What  strange  thoughts  then  took  possession  of 


gg  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

me.  All  the  wonderful  escapes  from  shipwreck  that 
I  had  ever  read  or  heard  of,  rushed  across  my  mem- 
ory, and  I  especially  remembered  Dr.  Haines'  es- 
cape in  Chas.  Reade's  Simpleton,  a  book  I  had  only 
lately  finished  reading. 

I  wondered  whether  I  should  drift  about  as 
he  did  and  if  the  exposure  and  privation  would 
affect  my  mind  similarly.  I  pondered  and  won- 
dered over  this  for  so  long  that  it  is  a  marvel  to 
me  now  I  did  not  go  crazy  then  and  there,  but 
by  God's  mercy  I  was  preserved  from  such  a  fate. 

It  must  have  been  about  three  o'clock  when 
1  was  parted  from  the  wreck  so  unceremoniously 
and  I  had  been  tossed  about,  the  sport  of  the -waves 
some  two  or  three  hours  when  a  certain  grey  streak 
in  the  east  foretold  the  gradual  approach  of  day- 
light. 

Never  in  my  life  did  I  welcome  the  dawning 
of  the  day  more  than  on  that  memorable  morning, 
for  in  the  past  twelve  hours  of  darkness, had  been 
crowded  the  misery  of  a  lifetime,  the  memory  of 
which  will  exists  in  my  brain  never  to  be  effaced 
while  life  lasts. 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  99 

With  what  heartfelt  joy  and  gratitude  did  I  be- 
hold, as  soon  as  the  darkness  was  fairly  dispelled,  a 
schooner  under  full  sail  standing  up  directly  toward 
me,  so  that  she  would  pass  easily  within  hailing  dis- 
tance. I  could  scarcely  contain  myself  for  joy,  and 
barely  kept  from  plunging  headlong  into  the  sea,  in 
order  to  reach  her  sooner. 

Never  did  a  vessel  travel  so  slowly,  in  my  fervid 
imagination,  and  fifty  times  I  fancied  her  bearing  off 
in  a  contrary  direction,  at  which  thought  I  would  be 
almost  ready  to  drop  off  my  faithful  chest  in  despair. 

But,  thank  God  !  she  came  within  hailing  dis- 
tance at  last,  when,  with  one  hand  clutching  the  cord, 
and  with  the  other  waving  aloft  my  limp  and  briny 
shirt,  I  shouted  and  gesticulated  until  weak  with  the 
exertion. 

But  that  was  of  small  account ;  I  was  heard  and 
seen,  and  a  boat  was  at  once  lowered,  manned  by 
four  stout  sailors.  In  a  few  minutes  my  immediate 
troubles  were  over,  and  I  found  myself  safe,  although 
very  weak,  on  the  broad  deck  of  the  vessel,  in  com- 
pany with  my  thrice  blessed  chest,  which  the  sailors 
had  towed  along  with  us. 


100 


LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 


I  found  her  to  be  a  small  trading  schooner,  bound 
for  Melbourne,  with  a  cargo  of  sundries.  Her  skipper 
proved  to  be  a  kind,  good-hearted  man,  who,  after 
hearing  what  little  I  had  to  say,  insisted  on  my  going 
at  once  to  bed,  which  I  was  only  too  glad  to  do. 

Nothing  could  have  exceeded  Captain  Wilson's 
kindness  to  me,  and  I  shall  ever  remember  him,  and 
also  his  crew,  for  their  exceeding  indulgence  to  me 
during  the  voyage  to  Melbourne. 

When  picked  up,  all  I  had  on  was  my  blue  serge 
trowsers  and  grey  undershirt — my  linen  one  I  dis- 
carded when  I  saw  the  boat  lowered — so  that  my 
condition  was  a  forlorn  one.  When  the  chest  was 
forced  open — which  was  rather  a  difficult  matter,  so 
firmly  was  it  fastened — it  was  found  empty,  which 
accounted  for  its  singular  buoyancy.  The  owner  had 
evidently  taken  out  the  concents  and  bound  it  thus 
securely,  with  an  ultimate  view  to  the  use  I  had  made 
of  it ;  but,  poor  fellow,  he  had  never  profited  by  his 
efforts. 

I  presented  it  to  one  of  my  rescuers,  the  sailor 
who  had  lifted  me  into  the  boat,  and  by  whose  orders 
the  chest  had  been  towed  along.  He  swore  to  keep 


THE   RECORD   OF  A   YEAR.  IOI 

it  as  long  as  he  lived,  in  remembrance  of  the  event. 

Before  we  reached  port,  the  skipper  made  up  a 
purse  for  me,  and  to  which  all  the  crew  contributed, 
so  that  when  we  dropped  anchor  in  Hobson's  Bay,  I 
found  myself  possessed  of  quite  a  neat  sum,  which 
was  duly  laid  out  in  purchasing  clothes  and  other 
necessary  articles.  I  was  very  weak  and  feverish 
when  we  entered  Port  Philip  Heads,  but  managed  to 
go  ashore  with  Captain  Wilson  and  get  rigged  in  a 
new  outfit  of  store  clothes ;  and  having  a  few  other 
purchases  to  make,  I  promised  to  meet  him  in  an 
hour  at  the  vessel  office  of  his  line,  on  Collins  street. 
But  I  had  overestimated  my  strength,  and  very 
shortly  after  my  kind  friend  left  me,  I  felt  a  dizziness 
in  my  head,  the  buildings  began  to  grow  larger  and 
larger,  and  assumed  all  manner  of  queer  shapes,  until 
I  imagined  they  were  trying  to  crush  me  to  pieces. 
I  remember  taking  a  sharp  turn  toward  an  open  com- 
mon, away  from  the  buildings,  and  staggering  ahead 
as  fast  as  my  weak  knees  would  carry  me;  then  I  knew 
no  more  for  some  days. 

When  I  recovered  my  senses,  I  was  lying  in  a 
low  bed,  in  a  large  airy  room,  where  there  were  sev- 


I02  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

eral  more  cots  ranged  in  a  row  on  each  side  where  I 
lay.  A  woman,  apparently  a  nurse,  was  at  the  other 
end  of  the  apartment  administering  medicine  to  a 
patient,  who  seemed  to  be  somewhat  fractious,  and 
who  answered  my  sharp  exclamation  by  hastily  quitting 
her  occupation  and  coming  to  my  side.  In  response 
to  my  anxious  looks,  she  told  me  I  had  been  very  ill 
with  the  fever,  and  must  not  talk.  Then,  taking  a 
bottle  from  a  stand  near  the  bed,  she  bade  me  drink, 
which  I  mechanically  did,  and  in  a  short  time  was 
fast  asleep. 

When  I  awoke,  it  was  dark,  but  I  heard  voices 
near  me,  and  presently  a  gentleman  approached  the 
bed,  and  put  his  hand  on  my  forehead.  Then  a  voice 
which  I  recognized  as  belonging  to  the  nurse,  said : 
"He  was  awake  this  morning,  Doctor,  and  appeared 
quite  sensible  like,  but  I  gave  him  his  medicine,  and 
he  went  right  to  sleep  again." 

I  concluded  this  must  be  the  hospital  surgeon, 
for  I  had  made  up  my  mind  that  I  was  in  some  public 
institution,  from  the  number  of  beds  in  the  room  ;  so, 
opening  my  eyes,  I  asked  the  Doctor  where  I  was,  and 
how  long  I  had  been  sick.  He  told  me  I  had  been 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLL).  103 

very  ill  for  two  weeks ;  that  I  had  been  found  near 
the  grounds  by  one  of  the  keepers,  in  a  fainting  con- 
dition, and  had  been  raving  mad  for  nearly  a  week ; 
that  I  had  talked  of  nothing  but  horses,  and  monkeys, 
and  trick  ponies,  and  occasionally  bursting  out  in 
some  comic  song,  from  which  they  concluded  I  was 
an  attache'  of  some  circus. 

Evidently  I  had  been  living  over  my  old  life  with 
the  circus,  and  had  not  dwelt  on  my  late  terrible 
experience  at  all,  for  which  I  felt  thankful,  as  I  was 
too  weak  to  bear  questioning.  Putting  my  hand  to 
my  head,  I  found  it  bare,  and  seeing  my  look  of 
dismay,  the  doctor  said  he  had  been  obliged  to  cut 
my  hair  all  off  to  cool  my  head  during  the  fever. 

I  also  learned  that  I  was  in  a  private  insane  asy- 
lum, having  been  admitted  through  the  surgeon's 
kindness,  and  that  it  was  about  six  miles  from  Mel- 
bourne, so  that  I  must  have  walked  on  for  some  time 
in  my  insane  desire  to  escape  from  the  falling  build- 
ings, when  first  taken  sick. 


ELEVENTH  EXTRACT. 

For  nearly  two  weeks  after  recovering  conscious- 
ness I  continued  an  inmate  of  the  asylum,  and  through 
the  friendship  of  the  house  surgeon  was  very  kindly 
cared  for  by  the  attendants.  During  convalescence 
I  was  allowed  to  wander  through  the  incurables' 
ward,  where  the  poor  demented  but  harmless  crea- 
tures passed  the  long,  sad  hours  of  the  day.  It  was 
a  beautifully  appointed  garden,  filled  with  richly  col- 
ored flowers  and  tropical  plants,  and  abounding  with 
cool,  vine-covered  arbors  and  rustic  seats — everything 
that  would  please  the  fanciful  eye  and  fantastic  imag- 
ination of  its  insane  frequenters. 

Here  I  became  acquainted  with  some  of  the 
highest  personages  of  both  the  past  and  present  ages, 
and  also  made  fast  friends  with  many  of  the  leading 
characters  in  Bible  history.  My  earliest  introduction 
was  to  a  grand-looking,  imposing,  white-haired  old 
gentleman,  who  fancied  himself  to  be  God  Almighty. 
He  was  always  in  search  of  his  dear  and  only  son 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  105 

Jesus  Christ,  and  when  I  first  entered  the  garden  he 
came  straight  toward  me  and  inquired  if  I  were  not 
that  illustrious  person.  When  I  undeceived  him  he 
appeared  much  cast  down,  and  said,  as  he  passed  a 
thin,  delicate  hand  over  his  massive  white  forehead, 
that  he  was  afraid  his  son  did  not  know  the  way,  or 
he  certainly  would  come  and  take  him  away  from 
such  a  place.  He  had  been  an  inmate  for  over  five 
years,  the  keeper  told  me,  and  went  crazy  over  the  loss 
of  his  wife  and  only  son,  who  were  on  their  way  from 
England  to  join  him  at  Melbourne,  but  were  ship- 
wrecked almost  in  sight  of  Port  Phillip  Heads.  He 
used  to  take  me  by  the  hand  and  introduce  me  to  all 
the  notabilities  of  the  place,  so  that  before  I  left  we 
were  quite  intimate.  One  day,  when  sitting  alone  with 
him  on  one  of  the  pretty  rustic  benches,  he  took  a 
piece  of  folded  paper  from  his  pocket,  and  looking 
anxiously  around  to  see  if  the  keeper  were  watching 
him,  slyly  slipped  it  into  my  coat  pocket,  and  in  a 
whisper  told  me  to  read  it  when  alone.  Thinking 
perhaps  it  was  some  complaint  he  had  written  out,  I 
took  the  first  opportunity  to  read  it.  On  the  outside, 
traced  in  a  neat,  legible  hand,  was  this  inscription  : 


I06  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

—God  is  love  ;  Staff  Sargeant  William  Top- 
ping— God  Almighty — Melbourne. ' ' 

Inside  was  written  the  following  : 

"God  is  love  and  Motherless.  Staff  Sargeant 
William  Topping,  God  Almighty.  Two  is  company, 
three  is  none.  Dear  brothers  and  sisters,  be  kind,  be 
kind  to  the  breath  of  life.  Bless  the  Queen  and  all 
little  children.  I  mend  clocks  and  watches,  hearts 
and  souls,  and  breathe  life  into  the  new  born  babe. 
I  am  God  Almighty,  this  is  my  home.  There  is  no 
place  like  home,  where  the  birds  are  singing  gaily, 
and  there  is  no  place  like  home.  Do  not  love  the 
devil ;  he  is  my  worst  enemy." 

I  insert  this  merely  to  show  how  disconnected 
such  a  mind  can  get,  and  how  pitiful  and  awful  is  the 
loss  of  a  grand  intellect.  This  man,  I  was  informed, 
had  been  one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  Mel- 
bourne, and  a  member  of  the  Victoria  parliament, 
where  he  was  a  brilliant  speaker,  but  was  now  a 
hopeless,  incurable  lunatic.  I  think  those  days  of  my 
convalescence  were  among  the  saddest  of  my  life,  as 
I  witnessed,  and  moved  about  in  daily  conversation 
with,  so  many  just  such  pitiable  wrecks.  To  enumerate 


A    TRAMP   AROUND    THE   WORLD.  107 

them  singly  would  only  be  telling  what  any  one  who 
has  visited  an  asylum  for  the  insane  has  no  doubt 
seen,  so  I  will  pass  over  this  experience  as  briefly  as 
possible. 

One  nice  old  gentleman  used  to  take  me  by  the 
arm  every  morning,  gravely  feel  my  pulse  and  look 
at  my  tongue,  then  mutter  a  few  words  and  pretend 
to  write  a  prescription,  which  he  would  gravely  hand 
me,  with  a  grand  gesture  of  the  arm.  He  was  once 
one  of  the  most  skillful  surgeons  in  the  colonies,  the 
keeper  said,  but  the  use  of  opium  had  utterly  de- 
stroyed his  brain  and  reduced  him  to  his  present  state; 
and  his  relatives  had  been  forced  to  place  him  there 
for  safe  keeping,  as  it  was  impossible  to  watch  him 
at  home  ;  and  so  I  might  go  on,  ad  infinitum  but  I 
desist. 

All  this  time,  as  I  gradually  grew  stronger,  I 
yearned  for  news  from  the  outside  world,  especially 
relating  to  the  loss  of  the  "Koturah."  With  a  strange 
reticence  I  had  said  nothing  to  my  friends  regarding 
my  identity  with  the  wreck,  and  as  they  had  no  suspi- 
cion of  the  true  facts,  I  did  not  care  to  open  up  the  old 
wounds,  which  close  questioning  would  have  revealed; 


108  LEAVES   FROM   A   DIARY. 

so  as  they  believed  me  to  be  merely  a  wanderer  from 
a  circus  troupe  lately  exhibiting  at  Melbourne,  I  let 
them  remain  in  ignorance. 

But  one  day,  while  lying  on  a  sofa  in  the 
matron's  room,  I  chanced  upon  some  newspapers 
which  had  been  left  for  my  amusement,  and  glancing 
through  an  old  copy  of  the  Melbourne  Argus,  came 
upon  the  following,  which  instantly  attracted  my 
profound  attention :  "An  Extraordinary  Story  !  The 
captain  of  the  '  Early  Dawn'  has  a  strange  story  to 
tell,  which,  were  it  not  known  that  he  is  a  man  of 
undoubted  veracity,  could  hardly  be  credited ;  but 
beside  the  gentleman's  own  word,  the  story  is  fully 
corroborated  by  the  officers  and  crew  of  his  vessel. 
Captain  Wilson  says:  'On  Saturday,  the  —  inst., 
while  standing  direct  on  our  course  for  the  Bluff, 
the  lookout  reported  man  overboard  off  starboard 
bow,  flying  signal  of  distress.  Had  just  come  on 
deck  and  at  once  ordered  a  boat  lowered  and  the 
unfortunate  fellow  was  picked  up  and  brought  on 
board.  He  proved  to  be  a  youth  of  about  eighteen, 
probably  5  ft.  6  in.  tall  and  of  rather  stout  build;  he 
was  afloat  on  a  seaman's  chest,  which,  being  water- 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  log 

tight,  had  sustained  his  weight  and  saved  his  life. 

"  '  In  answer  to  our  inquiries  we  ascertained  he 
was  one  of  the  crew  of  the  unfortunate  vessel  which 
was  lately  wrecked  off  the  southern  coast  of  New 
Zealand,  holding  the  position  of  under-steward  on 
board.  He  was  reticent  about  giving  particulars, 
and  seemed  somewhat  dazed  by  grief  and  horror. 
From  what  little  he  said  we  inferred  the  scenes  on 
the  lost  ship  were  too  heart-rending  to  bear  repeti- 
tion, for  he  shuddered,  and  averted  all  mention  when 
the  subject  was  introduced. 

"  '  He  promised,  however,  to  make  a  full  state- 
ment on  reaching  Melbourne,  and,  as  he  was  very 
weak  and  sick  during  the  balance  of  the  voyage,  we 
abstained  from  all  further  questioning.  Upon  arriv- 
ing at  Hobson's  Bay,  we  made  up  a  purse  among 
ourselves  to  enable  him  to  purchase  a  shore  outfit  of 
clothes,  as  he  had  nothing  on  when  picked  up  but 
common  serge  trowsers  and  singlet.' 

"  And  now  comes  the  most  singular  part  of  the 
officer's  statement.  Captain  Wilson,  resuming,  said: 

"  '  I  brought  him  to  town  here,  and,  while  I 
went  to  report  myself  at  the  office,  he  left  me  to  make 


1IO  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

some  purchases,  promising  to  meet  me  at  the 
company's  office  within  an  hour.  I  was  on 
hand  promptly,  and  waited  some  time,  but  the  boy 
did  not  show  up,  and  I  have  not  set  eyes  on  him 
since.  As  he  was  not  at  all  strong,  I  am  afraid  he 
was  taken  ill,  but  what  has  become  of  him  I  cannot 
say,  for  in  spite  of  every  effort  I  have  been  unable  to 
discover  his  whereabouts.' 

"  This  ended  the  captain's  remarkable  story  which 
is  true  in  every  particular.  The  boy  is  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  crew  of  the  ill-fated  Koturah  and  what  is 
more  to  the  point,  is  certainly  the  only  survivor 
with  the  exception  of  those  few  who  escaped  in 
the  first  and  second  officers'  boats.  His  statement 
would  no  doubt  throw  great  light  on  the  subsequent 
scenes  which  transpired  on  the  vessel,  for  as  he  had 
only  been  in  the  water  three  or  four  hours,  he  must 
have  been  one  of  the  last  survivors  who  clung  to  the 
rigging.  The  only  suspicious  thing  about  the  state- 
ment is  the  name  given  by  the  youth.  .It  corre- 
sponds with  none  of  the  names  appearing  on  the  list 
at  the  company's  office,  but  may  be  accounted  for  in 
this  manner:  The  youth  was  probably  shipped  at 


A   TRAMP  AROUND   THE    WORLD.  Ill 

one  of  the  many  ports  of  call,  and,  in  such  case, 
would  not  be  entered  excepting  upon  the  ship's 
books,  which,  of  course,  were  lost.  The  spectators  on 
shore,  who  remained  until  the  vessel  had  totally  dis- 
appeared, say  they  could  plainly  see  forms  in  the 
rigging  until  nearly  three  in  the  morning,  when  the 
vessel  disappeared  entirely  from  view,  and  a  last  de- 
spairing cry  was  all  that  was  heard  from  the  per- 
ishing wretches  who  had  thus  far  survived. 

"  It  is  highly  important  this  young  man  should 
come  forward,  not  only  on  account  of  the  additional 
news  he  can  give,  which  would  be  eagerly  read  by  the 
relatives  of  the  deceased  passengers,  and  the  public 
in  general,  but  also  to  appear  before  the  court  of  in- 
quiry, now  in  session,  where  he  would  prove  a  valu- 
able witness." 

In  another  column  I  read: 

"  A  reward  of  twenty  pounds  is  offered  to  the 
survivor  of  the  Koturah  who  arrived  in  this  city 
with  Captain  Wilson,  and  will  be  paid  him  by  the 
proprietors  of  this  paper,  on  condition  of  making  a 
full  statement  of  the  loss  of  the  vessel,  together  with 
particulars  occuring  on  board,  &c.,  &c.  He  is  also 


II2  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

requested  to  communicate  with  E.  O.  Barrett, 
Ballarat,  Vic.,  brother  of  the  unfortunate  captain." 

Further  on  I  read  of  the  recovery  of  the  cap- 
tain's body,  which  had  been  washed  ashore,  to- 
gether with  a  number  of  others,  some  of  which 
I  recognized  by  the  description.  Among  them  the 
unfortunate  Geelong  lady,  the  body  of  the  sec- 
ond engineer,  that  of  the  venerable  minister,  and 
the  poor  little  child,  whose  life  I  had  so  vainly  en- 
deavored to  preserve.  With  the  exception  of  those  in 
the  first  and  second  officers'  boats  none  had  been 
saved  except  myself.  The  second  officer  and  crew 
had  pulled  out  to  sea  in  safety,  and  had  been  picked 
up  by  the  vessel  whose  lights  we  had  seen  and 
counted  so  much  upon.  Those  with  the  first  officer 
escaped  by  swimming  through  the  surf.  I  then  read 
of  poor  Davey's  untimely  death  and  last  words.  His 
body  was  recovered  next  day,  badly  bruised  and  dis- 
figured, as  were  indeed  nearly  all  the  bodies  that 
came  ashore. 

Imagine  my  feelings  upon  reading  the  foregoing. 
All  the  past  rushed  in  upon  me,  as  the  old  wounds 
reopened.  And  the  paper  was  two  weeks  old.  The 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE    WORLD.  113 

court  of  inquiry  was  by  this  time  all  over,  and  the 
verdict  long  since  given.  Why  rake  up  the  bitter 
past?  It  was  all  settled  and  over,  and  so  I  deter- 
mined to  leave  things  as  the  court  had  decided. 

I  thought  it  strange  at  first  that  the  surgeon 
had  no  suspicion  of  my  identity.  But  the  clothes  I 
wore  when  they  found  me  insensible  were  new  and  of 
shore  cut;  my  eyes  were  haggard  and  my  cheeks 
pale,  while  my  shorn  head  helped  to  alter  my  de- 
scription not  a  little.  Then,  I  had  purposely  given 
an  assumed  name,  so  that,  all  things  combined,  they 
were  enough  to  deceive  the  most  skeptical,  and  my 
new  friends  had  certainly  no  reason  to  doubt  my 
former  occupation,  as  my  ravings  were  sufficient 
proof  to  allay  any  misgivings  upon  that  subject. 

And  so  I  stayed  on  for  a  few  days  longer,  when, 
my  strength  being  nearly  restored,  I  told  my  friend, 
the  surgeon,  I  would  go  to  Sydney,  where  I  had 
friends.  This  was  not  wholly  true,  as  I  knew  but  one 
person  in  that  city  and  he  but  a  chance  traveling  ac- 
quaintance. Still  I  wished  to  avert  all  cross-ques- 
tioning, and  thought  this  the  better  way.  He  was 
very  kind,  and  through  his  influence  obtained  a 


1I4  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

passage  for  me  on  one  of  the  steamers  that  ply  be- 
tween Melbourne  and  Sydney.  Despite  the  melan- 
choly atmosphere  which  I  had  lived  in  for  nearly 
four  weeks,  I  was  loth  to  leave  the  asylum  (to  me  it 
had  been  a  veritable  refuge)  and  my  strange  com- 
panions, but  I  wanted  to  get  away  from  Melbourne, 
and  was  eager  for  a  change. 

On  the  boat  I  became  acquainted  with  a  young 
colonial,  who  was  a  purser  and  steward  combined  on 
one  of  those  small  trading  vessels  that  coast  about 
the  Australian  Islands.  His  boat  sailed  from  Syd- 
ney to  Levuka,  the  British  settlement  in  the  Fiji 
Islands,  and,  learning  I  wanted  a  position,  he  offered 
to  take  me  as  assistant  steward  on  the  next  trip. 


TWELFTH  EXTRACT. 

This  offer  I  gladly  accepted  and  in  less  than  two 
weeks  I  was  installed  in  my  new  position  and  enjoy- 
ing the  delightful  tropical  breezes  only  to  be  found 
in  the  latitudes  of  the  Southern  Pacific  ocean. 

Among  the  passengers  was  a  very  intelligent 
half-breed  native  of  Levuka,  with  whom  I  contracted 
a  friendship,  and  who  proved  to  be  a  very  interesting 
companion.  He  was  thoroughly  posted  on  all  lead- 
ing events  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Fiji 
Islands  and  having  lived  almost  entirely  with  the 
English  residents  (his  father  had  been  employed  at 
the  English  embassy  at  Levuka)  spoke  our  language 
fluently.  When  his  father  died  he  had  the  grace  to  will 
to  his  illegitimate  offspring  a  two-thirds  interest  in  a 
large  coffee  plantation  which  was  located  only  a  few 
miles  from  the  town. 

All  this  I  learned  at  odd  intervals  during  our 
trip  from  Sydney,  and  when  we  arrived  at  Levuka, 


U6  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

we  were  on  such  friendly  terms  that  Viti  (my  friend's 
name)  invited  me  to  spend  a  week  or  two  with  him 
on  his  plantation.  As  I  was  still  quite  weak  from 
my  recent  sickness,  I  was  glad  to  avail  myself  of  this 
offer,  and  knowing  the  vessel  did  not  return  for  three 
weeks,  I  obtained  permission  from  the  captain  to  ab- 
sent myself  for  a  fortnight. 

I  was  scarcely  prepared  to  see  such  a  state  of  civi- 
lization existing  at  Levuka,  although  my  friend  had 
given  me  a  general  description  of  the  place  previous 
to  our  arrival;  but  the  churches,  the  hotels,  and  the 
warehouses  along  the  wharf,  had  such  a  very  modern 
and  civilized  aspect  I  could  scarcely  realize  that  only 
a  few  years  back  the  place  had  been  the  haunt  of 
cannibals  and  savages. 

The  road  to  Viti's  plantation  led  through  a  de- 
lightfully fertile  valley  and  I  was  again  astonished  at 
the  evidences  of  cultivation  everywhere  abundant. 
Cocoanut  trees,  palm  trees  and  beautiful  ferns  also 
flourished  extensively,  while  beneath  our  feet  luxuri- 
ant flowers,  of  that  rich  coloring  only  to  be  seen  in 
tropical  countries,  grew  profusely.  As  I  watched  the 
gaily-tinted  birds  flitting  above  us,  and  felt  the  warm 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE   WORLD.  1 17 

southern  sun  penetrating  my  linen  jacket,  I  felt  a  de- 
licious languor  stealing  over  me  and  thought  of 
Monte  Cristo's  experience  with  the  hasheseh.  and 
wondered  if  his  sensations  equalled  mine. 

Viti  was  married  to  a  half-breed  native,  who,  like 
himself,  had  been  raised  in  a  white  family  and  she, 
with  an  old  native  woman  who  did  the  housework, 
constituted  the  family. 

Here  I  spent  two  happy  weeks  and  as  the  time 
drew  near  for  me  to  leave,  I  was  almost  tempted  to 
relinquish  all  claims  on  country  and  friends  and  stay 
forever.  But  before  bidding  Levuka  and  Viti 
adieu,  I  must  relate  a  peculiar  experience  which 
came  within  my  ken. 

I  had  been  on  the  plantation  a  little  over  a  week 
when  one  night  I  was  awakened  by  hearing  loud 
moans  as  of  one  in  pain.  Presently  Viti  rushed  into 
the  room  and  implored  me  to  go  to  his  wife  while  he 
ran  for  the  native  doctor,  who  lived  at  the  further 
end  of  his  plantation. 

Hastily  donning  my  pajamas  I  made  my  way 
into  the  next  room  and  there,  attended  only  by  the 
native  beldam,  lay  Viti's  wife  on  a  low  cot  still  utter- 


jjg  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

ing   the   same   loud  cries   that   had   awakened    me. 

It  was  my  first  and  only  experience  in  this  line 
and  I  think  all  my  readers  will  be  apt  to  pardon  me 
when  I  affirm  that  I  was  frightfully  nervous  and 
"rattled."  But  I  soothed  and  held  the  poor  woman 
to  the  best  of  my  ability,  and  with  the  assistance  of 
the  ancient  cook  managed  to  quiet  her;  but  before 
Viti  had  returned,  the  Doctor's  presence  was  un- 
necessary; his  wife  was  sleeping  peacefully  and  the 
old  woman  held  up  a  fine  little  boy  to  Viti's  delighted 
gaze. 

As  a  compliment  to  me,  my  friend  declared  the 
the  boy  should  bear  my  name;  so  by  reason  of  this 
I  have  the  honor  to  stand  god-father  to  one  of  the 
rising  generation  and  future  citizens  of  Levuka,  Fiji 
Islands. 

I  took  an  affectionate  farewell  of  my  namesake, 
Viti  and  his  wife.  The  most  highly  cultured  and 
civilized  European  could  not  have  entertained  me 
more  hospitably,  or  kindlier,  than  did  this  Fiji  half 
bred  native  and  we  parted  with  mutual  regrets.  Per- 
haps some  day  I  may  return  to  pay  my  god-son  a 
visit  and  carry  him  the  long  delayed  "silver-mug;" 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  119 

but  whenever  I  do  I  am  very  sure  of  a  warm  recep- 
tion and  with  the  knowledge  that  I  am  freely  wel- 
come to  partake  and  share  of  all  that  he  and  his 
parents  enjoy. 

With  renewed  health  and  spirits  I  went  back  to 
my  ship,  and  the  following  week  sailed  out  of  the 
reef-bound  harbor.  My  duties  were  by  no  means 
arduous,  and  I  have  reason  to  remember  the  trip  back 
to  Sydney  as  one  of  the  pleasantest  periods  of  my 
life. 

Our  captain  had  been  a  whaler  in  his  younger 
days,  his  cruising  grounds  having  been  principally  in 
the  Southern  Pacific,  between  New  Zealand  and  the 
Fiji  Islands.  Whales  are  not  so  common  there  now 
as  then,  but  forty  years  ago  it  was  a  very  prolific 
station  for  a  whaler  to  cruise  in,  and  big  money  was 
made  in  a  short  time. 

Our  skipper's  stories  related  mostly  to  the  pecu- 
liarities and  cannibalistic  propensities  of  the  Fijians, 
varied  occasionally  by  a  long  yarn  about  a  pull  after 
a"sp2rmer,"  with  the  incidents  pertaining  thereto. 
Often  on  a  calm  summer  evening,  after  nine  o'clock 
tea,  when  the  silver  moon  shone  placidly  across  the 


I20  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

long  expanse  of  water,  and  the  Southern  Cross  glit- 
tered brightly  overhead,  I  used  to  join  the  captain, 
mate  and  purser,  as  they  sat  chatting  and  smoking 
by  the  wheelhouse,  and  listen  for  hours  to  the  yarns 
our  "old  man"  used  to  spin. 

Like  all  sailors,  he  was  very  much  given  to 
stretching  a  "p'int,"  but  then  he  would  never  spoil 
a  yarn  for  the  sake  of  a  trifling  inaccuracy  of  fact. 
He  used  to  especially  relish  telling  us  of  a  long, 
weary  pull  after  a  whale,  and  night  coming  on,  the 
whole  boat-load  taking  refuge  on  one  of  the  islands  in 
the  Fiji  group  until  morning.  Surprised  by  the 
savages,  all  made  a  rush  for  the  boat,  into  which  they 
hastily  scrambled  and  pulled  out  to  sea,  hotly  pur- 
sued by  the  natives  in  their  canoes.  The  captain, 
however,  in  the  rush  and  darkness  was  left  behind, 
and  climbing  a  cocoanut  tree,  he  hid  in  the  foliage. 
It  was  lucky  he  did,  as  his  comrades  were  overtaken, 
ruthlessly  murdered  and  eaten,  almost  underneath  the 
place  where  he  was  stowed  safely  away. 

When  he  arrived  at  this  stage  of  the  yarn,  our 
captain  used  to  turn  to  me  and  remark  upon  the 
gusto  with  which  an  old  toothless  native  seized  upon 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  121 

the  fat  tempting  arm  of  the  harpooner  of  the  boat 
and  with  an  epicurean  smack  prepared  for  a  delicious 
morsel.  It  happened,  however,  that  the  spear- 
thrower  had  been  so  greatly  addicted  to  the  use  of 
tobacco  that  his  entire  system  was  thoroughly  impreg- 
nated with  the  nicotine.  At  the  second  or  third 
mouthful  the  old  warrior  dropped  the  arm  in  disgust, 
and  temporarily  retired  from  the  feast — the  tobacco 
being  too  much  for  him. 

I  suspect  this  part  of  the  story  was  an  addendum 
by  the  captain  for  my  especial  benefit,  as  he  used 
to  roll  his  eyes  wildly  at  this  point,  and  pull  savagely 
at  his  pipe. 

Then  he  told  us  how  next  day  the  balance  of 
the  ship's  crew  came  in  shore,  hunting  their  lost 
comrades,  and  the  cannibals  being  gone,  the  captain 
descended  from  his  perch  and  was  taken  back  to  the 
ship,  where  he  told  the  sad  story  to  his  sorrowing 
shipmates. 

Allowing  for  local  coloring,  I  have  no  doubt  the 
story  was  true,  as  it  is  a  notorious  fact  that  the  natives 
in  some  parts  of  Fiji  do  kill  and  eat  human  beings. 
Indeed,  while  I  was  at  Sydney  I  read  of  the  massacre 


I22  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

of  the  crew  of  a  small  coaster,  the  remains  of  the 
unfortunate  victims  being  discovered  some  weeks  after 
by  an  adventurous  trader. 

However,  we  were  in  no  mood  to  criticise  or 
doubt  any  of  our  skipper's  stories,  as  that  would  have 
been  like  killing  the  goose  that  laid  the  golden  eggs, 
and  shutting  off  our  yarns  entirely. 

We  enjoyed  and  believed  them,  (at  least  I  did) 
and  were  all  sorry  when  we  entered  Port  Jackson 
Heads  and  cast  anchor  in  the  bay.  My  strength 
was  then  entirely  restored,  and  the  vessel  being  laid 
up  for  repairs,  I  was  ready  for  new  adventures. 

It  was  then  I  caught  the  gold  fever,  which  at 
that  time  was  invading  the  conservative  old  city  of 
New  South  Wales,  and  I  could  not  rest  until  I  had 
found  a  kindred  spirit,  who  was  ready  and  willing  to 
go  fhip  country"  with  me  on  a  prospecting  tour. 

We  both  knew  about  as  much  of  mining  as  a 
three-year-old  colt,  but  that  made  no  difference  to  us. 
We  were  bound  to  go,  and  investing  our  scanty 
finances  in  a  few  necessary  articles,  started  out  on 
foot  for  our  new  Eldorado. 

All  went  well  until  the  fifth  da}-  out,  when  we 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  123 

began  to  strike  the  sandy  desert  through  which  we 
must  pass  before  the  auriferous  deposits  could  be 
reached,  and  here  my  companion  was  taken  with 
the  sand  blight,  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  proceed, 
his  eyes  being  so  inflamed  that  he  could  not  open 
them. 

We  were  forced  to  go  into  camp,  despite  our 
anxiety  to  advance,  and  for  nearly  a  week  I  consti- 
tuted myself  cook,  nurse  and  doctor  to  the  expedi- 
tion ;  but  my  comrade,  instead  of  getting  better, 
grew  worse,  and  I  was  compelled  to  sell  our  entire 
stock  of  tools  and  camping  outfit  in  order  to  raise 
money  enough  to  convey  my  chum  back  to  town.  I 
was  fortunate  in  meeting  a  party  of  miners,  outward 
bound,  who  were  ready  to  purchase,  and  to  them  I 
sold  everything  but  our  blankets.  A  stage  coach 
made  irregular  trips  to  the  nearest  mining  camp, 
and  I  was  lucky  enough  to  secure  two  seats  on  the 
return  route.  The  fare  was  pretty  high,  and  nearly 
bankrupted  me,  but  it  had  to  be  paid.  My  compan- 
ion was  totally  unable  to  return  as  we  had  come, 
and  was  suffering  tortures. 

He  was  very  fortunate  in  gaining  admission  to 


124 


LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 


the  hospital  when  we  arrived  at  Sydney,  and  there 
received  the  attention  his  condition  required.  But 
as  for  me,  with  money  all  gone  and  wardrobe  some- 
what dilapidated  by  the  recent  journey,  I  was  in  a 
sad  state.  My  friend,  the  purser,  with  whom  I  had 
recently  sailed,  had  left  about  two  days  before  I  re- 
turned, and  I  found  no  vacancies  on  any  of  the  ships 
lying  at  the  circular  quay. 

I  was  in  this  condition  when  i  formed  an  ac- 
quaintance with  a  street  fakir,  one  of  those  clever 
artists  who  contrive  to  make  a  living  out  of  nothing. 
He  had  a  scheme  that  promised  to  give  us  bread  and 
butter  and  as  I  was  hungry  I  did  not  stick  at  trifles. 
His  great  forte  as  an  artist  was  in  imitating  bird  calls 
by  means  of  a  small  tin  contrivance  called  by  cour- 
tesy a  bird  whistle,  which,  inserted  on  the  tip  of  the 
tongue  between  the  palate  and  the  roof  of  the  mouth 
is  used  to  emit  certain  peculiar  sounds  that  are  sup- 
posed to  resemble  the  warbling  of  birds. 

His  idea  was  to  make  these  whistles  and  sell 
them  in  the  Saturday  night  market  for  a  small  com- 
pensation. As  neither  of  us  had  a  penny,  and 
credit  was  out  of  the  question,  the  scheme  did  not 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE    WORLD.  125 

appear  very  feasible  at  the  outset  but  I  was  soon 
enlightened.  My  share  in  this  joint  operation  was 
to  go  around  to  the  various  leather  finders  and 
harness-makers  in  the  place  and  beg  small  scraps 
of  refuse  leather,  after  which  I  was  to  select  several 
discarded  empty  tin  cans,  such  as  are  used  for  pre- 
serving fruit,  and  meet  him  with  my  spoils  in 
Cook's  Park,  near  the  great  navigator's  statue. 

My  new  friend  \vas  a  great  genius.  In  the 
course  of  four  or  five  hours,  with  his  few  crude 
tools,  of  which  on  old  jack-knife  was  the  most  im- 
portant article,  he  had  fashioned  between  thirty 
and  forty  bird  whistles  "so  easy  and  simple  that  a 
child  could  use  them." 

The  next  day  was  Saturday  and  at  seven  in 
the  evening  we  repaired  to  the  market  grounds. 
This  Saturday  night  market  is  one  of  the  institu- 
tions of  Sydney  and  is  mainly  patronized  by  the 
poorer  class,  who  imagine  bargains  may  be  picked 
up  here  cheap.  One  can  buy  almost  anything  from 
a  baby  carriage  to  a  bedstead  at  the  booths  and 
stands,  which  are  to  be  met  at  every  turn,  and  in- 
terspersed with  these  are  small  side-shows,  quack 


I26  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

medicine  doctors  crying  their  wonderful  "cure  alls," 
lemonade  venders,  oyster-stands  and  the  ever-present 
electric-try-ydur-nerve  artist.  These  attractions  are 
all  rendered  brilliant  and  inviting  by  the  aid  of  a 
multitude  of  oil-lamps,  which  shed  a  peculiar  flare 
on  the  grounds  and  emit  a  most  uninviting  odor  to 
one  not  accustomed  to  the  scene,  but  which  to  its 
frequenters  is  one  of  the  main  charms  of  the  market. 

We  paid  our  small  entrance  fee,  obtained  by 
making  a  sale  outside,  and  carrying  an  empty  box,  to 
serve  as  a  stand,  we  entered  the  grounds  and  securing 
a  likely  position  near  a  popular  quack-medicine  doc- 
tor (?)  we  soon  commenced  operations. 

Whilst  I  mounted  a  friendly  stump  and  extolled 
the  simplicity  and  beauty  of  our  wonderful  bird- 
whistles,  my  coadjutor  stood  beside  me  and  trilled 
forth  roulade  after  roulade  in  a  manner  that  would" 
have  done  credit  to  the  most  finished  nightingale  and 
that  attracted  a  crowd  of  admirers  in  a  very  few 
minutes. 

In  half  an  hour  all  our  whistles  were  sold  and 
after  dividing  our  profits  we  found  ourselves  possess- 
ed of  a  fair  sum  to  last  us  through  the  week.  The 


A    TRAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  127 

following  Saturday  we  repeated  our  success,  only  to 
a  greater  extent,  as  we  had  printed  forms  explaining 
how  to  learn  the  various  calls,  which  we  distributed, 
gratis,  to  every  purchaser  of  a  whistle.  We  were 
highly  elated  over  our  good  fortune  and  began  to 
think  of  starting  a  manufactory  on  a  small  scale  for 
our  whistles  and  sell  them  wholesale  to  the  trade, 
when  alas  !  our  air-castles  were  rudely  overthrown 
by  the  Vandal's  hands  and  we  were  forced  to  find  a 
new  outlet  for  our  refined  tastes. 

But  ere  I  go  further,  let  me  confess  what  I  had 
previously  but  half  guessed  at.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
no  one  could  ever  learn  to  use  our  bird-calls  unless 
possessing  a  positive  knack  in  so  doing;  apt  trickster 
as  my  comrade  was  it  had  taken  him  years  to  become 
the  finished  artist  he  was. 

The  third  Saturday  saw  our  sun  go  down,  or  to 
speak  more  correctly,  saw  our  lamp  knocked  out,  and 
we  were  escorted  out  of  the  market  followed  by  a 
score  or  more  of  howling  colonials  whose  British 
blood  was  up  and  who  demanded  back  their  "thrup- 
pence"  for  the  "beastly  thing,  that  wouldn't  blow  ye 
know?" 


I2g  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIAKV. 

Thus  perished  in  its  infancy  an  enterprise  that 
might  have  grown  into  colossal  dimensions  and  have 
been  one  of  the  chief  industries  of  Australia.  I  felt 
sorry  for  our  victims,  but  I  had  to  eat  some  way,  and 
that  was  my  only  chance. 


THIRTEENTH  EXTRACT. 

My  partner  in  this  adventure  was  a  man  with  a 
history,  who  had  seen  life  from  a  variety  of  stand- 
points. He  was  an  American  by  birth  and  had  been 
in  the  colonies  but  a  few  months  when  I  met  him, 
having  arrived  at  Sydney  only  a  short  time  before 
me,  after  a  protracted  stay  in  Java.  He  rejoiced  in 
the  particularly  euphonious  and  somewhat  peculiar 
title  of  "Seldom  Seen,"  which  was  the  only  name  I 
knew  him  by.  He  was  the  purest  specimen  of  the 
genus  tramp  ever  engaged  in  "drilling"  the  road, 
and  when  in  the  States  had  been  a  perfect  terror  to 
the  conductors  and  brakesmen  along  the  U.  P.  road. 

No  one  could  steal  a  ride,  "jump  the  brakes," 
crawl  into  a  "tool-box"  or  force  open  a  box-car  as 
neatly  and  easily  as  he,  and  it  was  from  his  daring 
propensities  in  this  direction  and  ability  to  render 
himself  scarce  and  invisible  to  the  eyes  of  the  hawk- 


J-JQ  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

eyed  brakesmen  on  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  that 
he  obtained  his  alliterative  cognomen. 

He  was  a  long,  lean,  hungry  looking  chap,  with 
big,  staring,  grey  eyes,  a  shock  of  red  hair  and  a 
stubby  growth  on  his  chin,  of  the  same  dirty  brick 
color,  Avhich  generally  looked  as  if  it  had  been  trim- 
med with  a  very  dull  jack-knife  but  of  which  he  was 
not  a  little  proud. 

He  possessed  an  easy,  good-natured  disposition, 
was  full  of  ready  wit,  when  brought  to  bay  by  an 
irate  conductor,  and  could  sling  such  choice  bits  of 
profanity  at  his  natural  enemies,  the  brakesmen,  or 
"brake  jerkers,"  as  he  termed  them,  as  to  completely 
overwhelm  even  those  hardened  creatures. 

The  incident  that  I  am  about  to  relate  was  the 
main  cause  of  his  leaving  the  Pacific  slope  and  cross- 
ing the  ocean.  The  details  I  picked  up  from  time  to 
time  as  he  grew  more  or  less  communicative  and  I  have 
endeavored  to  present  them  in  as  connected  a  form 
as  was  possible  under  the  circumstances. 

The  boon  companion  of  Seldom  Seen  in  all  his 
escapades  and  adventures,  was  a  short,  stumpy  little 
fellow,  who  answered  to  the  pleasant  and  suggestive 


A  TRAMP  AROUND   THE   WORLD.  131 

appellative  of  "Jimmy-hit-the-road-a-welt,"  called 
"Jimmy,"  for  short.  For  three  years  they  traveled 
together,  in  every  direction  that  railroads  had  pene- 
trated, and  in  that  time  had  visited  nearly  every 
town  of  any  size  in  all  the  States  ar.d  Territories  in 
the  Union.  When  one  was  seen  hanging  around  a 
freight  train  or  loafing  about  the  yards  at  any  railroad 
terminus,  it  was  tolerably  certain  the  other  was  not 
far  off,  for  like  David  and  Jonathan  they  were  in- 
separable and  their  staunch  friendship  for  each  other 
was  the  one  redeeming  quality  they  possessed. 

When  Seldom  Seen  had  three  fingers  crushed 
and  his  right  thumb  cut  off  between  two  couplers, 
one  bitter  cold  day  in  December,  Jimmy  it  was  who 
took  him  to  the  hospital  at  Cheyenne  and  actually 
went  to  work  in  a  coal  yard  in  order  to  keep  his  sick 
comrade  supplied  with  such  delicacies  he  might  fancy 
and  to  pay  the  sum  necessary  for  his  care.  On 
another  occasion  in  the  summer  time,  when  on  their 
way  to  Utah,  Seldom  Seen  risked  his  life  by  a  daring 
leap  in  order  to  assist  his  partner  who  was  in  distress. 

They  had  boarded  a  freight  at  Laramie,  one 
evening  at  dusk,  and  Seldom  Seen  with  his  usual  reck- 


I32 


LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 


lessness  had  launched  himself  beneath  the  car,  to  his 
favorite  seat  on  the  brakes,  while  Jimmy  hung  low 
on  the  iron  ladder  at  the  rear  and  was  partially  hid- 
den between  the  two  cars. 

When  approaching  Summit,  and  while  the  train 
was  running  about  six  miles  an  hour,  one  of  the 
brakesmen  discovered  Jimmy  on  his  perch  and  steal- 
ing along  the  roof  of  the  car  dealt  a  cowardly  blow 
with  all  his  force  upon  the  poor  fellow's  head.  Jim- 
my dropped  like  a  log  between  the  cars,  the  forward 
wheels  of  the  rear  freight  just  missing  his  neck  and 
passing  over  his  right  arm  close  to' the  elbow. 

From  his  cramped  seat  beneath  the  car  Seldom 
Seen  could  not  see  this  inhuman  act,  but  he  heard 
his  comrade's  despairing  cry  as  he  dropped,  and  with 
an  utter  disregard  of  consequences  hurled  himself 
between  the  wheels  and  actually  lit  in  the  ditch  along 
the  track  without  a  scratch. 

Hastening  back  he  found  his  partner  lying  sense- 
less on  the  ties  and  picking  him  up  bore  him  as  ten- 
derly as  he  could  to  a  deserted  section-house  which 
was  fortunately  only  a  few  yards  distant. 

For  six  weeks  Seldom  Seen  nursed  his  mutilated 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  133 

companion,  making  daily  excursions  to  the  neighbor- 
ing ranches  for  food  and  at  one  time  going  clear  to  Lar- 
amie  for  a  doctor,  whom  he  succeeded  in  inducing 
to  accompany  him  back,  after  infinite  exertion,  to 
dress  the  injured  limb. 

Poor  Jimmy  lost  his  arm,  however,  and  never 
seemed  to  recover  his  former  spirits.  He  drooped 
away  like  the  jackdaw  of  Rheims,  when  under  the 
cardinal's  ban,  and  gradually  grew  weaker,  until  at  the 
close  of  fall  he  resembled  only  the  ghost  of  his  for- 
mer self  and  was  even  thinner  than  his  partner. 

Seldom  Seen's  conduct  under  these  circumstan- 
ces was  heroic.  He  bore  patiently  with  his  com- 
rade's irritability  and  trying  moods,  when  growing 
convalescent;  worked  on  a  ranche  near  by,  in  order 
to  supply  him  with  proper  food,  and  at  night  cheered 
his  lonely  hours  with  stories  of  former  adventures  and 
such  amusing  instances  as  he  calculated  would  best 
please  him. 

But  as  the  winter  approached,  Jimmy  grew 
worse;  he  had  received  some  internal  injuries,  which 
hitherto  had  been  quiescent.  The  cold  weather 
brought  on  a  troublesome  cough  which  racked  his 


134 


XEAVE3    FROM    A    DIARY. 


form  and  produced  such  severe  pains  in  his  head  that 
he  could  scarcely  sleep. 

"With  the  first  fall  of  snow,  Seldom  Seen  was 
obliged  to  resign  his  work  on  the  ranche  and  take 
his  sick  partner  to  Laramie  where  the  latter  was  com- 
pelled by  his  comrade  to  visit  a  doctor. 

The  result  of  this  interview  was  not  submitted 
to  Jimmy,  for  obvious  reasons.  In  reply  to  Seldom 
Seen's  anxious  questioning,  the  physician  replied  that 
Jimmy's  only  chance  of  recovery  was  in  seeking  a 
warmer  climate,  as,  if  the  cough  was  not  stopped,  it 
would  certainly  result  fatally,  precursory  symptoms  of 
consumption  having  already  made  an  appearance. 

Winter  was  now  fairly  set  in  and  the  snow  lay 
deep  on  the  ground,  yet  Seldom  Seen  determined  to 
go  through  to  California  with  his  patient.  Having 
no  money,  but  one  course  lay  open,  the  usual  ortho- 
dox method,  adopted  by  all  the  profession,  viz:  get 
"sprung  in"  in  a  box-car,  and  take  the  chances  of 
getting  as  far  as  Ogden,  without  being  discovered, 
after  which,  by  easy  stages,  make  the  balance  of  the 
trip  as  far  as  Sacramento. 

A  sudden  spell  of  warm  weather  brought  Seldom 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  135 

Seen's  plans  to  a  focus;  a  marked  car  was  selected 
having  breathing  holes  at  the  rear,  and  with  the  help 
of  a  friend,  both  managed  to  crawl  beneath  the  raised 
sliding-door,  into  the  car,  without  being  detected. 

An  old  army  blanket  for  covering;  two  large 
bottles  of  water  and  several  loaves  of  bread  were 
stowed  carefully  away  in  the  car  to  guard  against  any 
mishaps  from  breakage,  and  just  as  daylight  began  to 
peep  in  through  the  iron  grating  at  the  rear,  the  cars 
moved  slowly  out  of  the  yard  and  both  breathed  a  long 
sigh  of  satisfaction  as  the  journey  to  the  west  began. 

It  was  no  novel  experience  to  either;  but  at  this 
period,  and  taken  in  midwinter  it  was  scarcely  pleas- 
ant or  safe,  and  only  the  exigency  of  the  case  had 
nerved  Seldom  Seen  to  make  the  attempt. 

The  first  day  Jimmy  seemed  quite  pleased  at  the 
contemplated  change  and  was  even  cheerful  at  times, 

occasionally  breaking  out  into  a  comic  ditty  the  bur- 
den of  which  was,  "You  kin  bet  yer  life  we' 11  get  dar, 

halle-halle-halle-hallelujah." 

But  Seldom  Seen  was  obliged  to  repress  this 
merriment,  for  fear  the  brakesmen,  who  were  con- 
stantly passing  and  repassing  the  roof  of  the  car  would 


j-^6  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

overhear  it  and  discover  their  presence;  so  Jimmy 
finally  fell  back  on  his  blanket,  and  quietly 
listened  to  the  dull  rumbling  of  the  wheels, 
or  the  subdued  murmur  of  his  companion's  voice? 
telling  some  thrilling  story  of  bygone  experience. 

Once  Jimmy's  hacking  cough  almost  betrayed 
them,  a  sudden  paroxysm  seizing  him  just  as  a 
brakesman  was  passing  overhead,  but  at  that  instant 
came  the  shrill  whistle  for  "down  brakes"  and  the 
sound  was  drowned. 

Towards  night  on  the  second  day,  it  began  to 
grow  much  colder  and  poor  Jimmy  shivered  like  an 
aspen  leaf,  despite  the  protecting  warmth  from  the 
blanket,  which  Seldom  Seen  had  wrapped  round  his 
comrade's  form. 

Presently  Jimmy  began  to  whimper,  and  waking 
his  companion  from  a  sound  sleep  accused  him  of 
cruelty  and  meanness,  for  subjecting  him  to  such 
inconveniences  when  he  might  just  as  well  have  stay- 
ed at  Laramie  where  they  were  at  least  able  to  have  a 
good  fire. 

Seldom  Seen,  the  patient  fellow,  bore  it  all  very 
submissively  and  tried  to  soothe  his  sick  comrade's 


A  TRAMP   AROUND   THE    WORLD.  137 

as  he  best  knew   how,  but   all   to   little 
effect;  Jimmy  refused  to  be  pacified. 

As  the  evening  wore  on  his  chills  grew  more  vi- 
olent so  that  Seldom  Seen  began  to  grow  nervous  over 
the  result.  Finally,  as  a  last  resort,  he  took  the  poor, 
shivering  wretch  in  his  arms,  wrapped  the  blanket 
securely  about  him  and  holding  him  close  to  his 
bosom  tried  to  impart  some  of  his  natural  heat  to 
the  poor  wasted  frame  of  the  once  robust  Jimmy. 

Meantime  a  furious  snow-storm  had  set  in  which 
raged  with  terrific  fury  all  through  the  night,  and 
with  the  first  streak  of  morning  light,  Seldom  Seen, 
from  the  opening  through  the  grating,  saw  the  train 
was  laboring  with  difficulty  along  the  track,  the  snow 
being  piled  up  on  each  side  and  clogging  the  wheels 
at  each  revolution. 

Fortunately,  with  the  snow,  the  weather  moder- 
ated so  that  Jimmy  ceased  to  complain  of  the  cold 
but  the  poor  fellow  was  rapidly  growing  worse,  and 
about  noon  his  mind  began  to  wander  so  that  he 
imagined  himself  back  in  his  mother's  home  in  the 
green  mountains  of  Vermont,  his  poor,  feeble  mind 


'38 


LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 


reverting  in  its  last  efforts  to  the  place  that  gave  him 
birth. 

"Marmie,"  said  he,  in  a  whisper,  clutching  his 
faithful  partner  by  the  wrist,  and  falling  into  the 
endearing  vernacular  of  early  childhood,  "don't  fret 
about  me,  you  know  I  mean  well  enough  and  if  I'm 
a  little  rough  at  times,  it  ain't  'cause  I  don't  love 
yer.  It's  dull  and  lonesome  down  here  and  I  want 
to  git  out  and  see  the  world  and  I  must  go:  but  I'll 
come  back,  dearie,  I'll  come  back  again." 

His  mind  was  evidently  dwelling  on  the  time  he 
first  left  his  home  and  a  fond  mother — the  mother  he 
would  never  see  again  and  the  home  he  would  never 
re-visit. 

Large  tears  slowly  welled  out  of  Seldom  Seen's 
eyes,  as  he  again  took  the  weary,  worn-out  tramp  in 
his  arms  and  listened  to  the  low  murmurings  that 
were  quietly  breathed  forth. 

He  was  now  turning  back  again  from  his  wan- 
derings, journeying  again  to  the  woman  who  had  toil- 
ed and  worked,  early  and  late,  for  her  restless  boy 
who  had  fled  the  nest  as  soon  as  his  wings  were 
sufficiently  strong  to  carry  him  away.  Seldom  Seen 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE   WORLD.  139 

bent  low  to  catch  the  dying  words:  "Yes,  marmie,  I'm 
coming,  I'll  stay  this  time  for  g — "  herea  violent  fit  of 
coughing  checked  further  utterance  and  when  it  was 
over  Seldom  Seen  held  in  his  arms  a  corpse,  and 
poor  Jimmy  was  home  at  last. 

Wrapping  the  lean,  wasted  form  of  his  dead 
partner  in  the  faded  blanket,  Seldom  Seen  reverently 
crossed  the  one  remaining  arm  over  the  breast  and 
gave  a  great  gulp  as  he  laid  the  body  carefully  out 
on  some  boxes  in  the  center  of  the  car.  Henceforth 
the  world  was  a  blank  to  him;  his  partner  would  not 
be  there  and  he  was  alone  with  his  sorrow. 

To  add  to  his  distress  he  discovered  the  cars 
had  ceased  running;  the  storm  continued  with  una- 
bated fury  and  it  became  evident  towards  night  the 
tram  was  abandoned. 

The  storm  raged  nearly  six  days.  At  the  end 
of  that  time,  a  sudden  thaw  set  in  and  the  train  men 
were  able  to  renew  their  duties.  A  brakesman 
climbing  over  the  deserted  train  discovered  a  dirty 
brown  muffler  tied  to  the  grating  of  one  of  the  cars 
and  evidently  for  the  purpose  ot  attracting  attention. 
Summoning  his  comrades,  they  broke  open  the  car 


140  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

door  and  there  found  the  dead  body  of  Jimmy-hit- 
the-road-a-welt  and  lying  by  its  side  the  insensible 
form  of  Seldom  Seen. 

He  was  carried  into  the  caboose,  brandy  forced 
between  his  clenched  teeth  and  after  a  time  he  recov- 
ered sufficiently  to  ask  for  "Jimmy,"  relapsing  im- 
mediately into  unconsciousness. 

The  boys  were  very  good  to  him  when  he  finally 
managed  to  tell  his  story,  and  he  was  taken  to  Ogden 
where  some  kind  people  buried  his  partner  and  ob- 
tained a  pass  for  him  to  San  Francisco.  There  he 
staid  some  time  and  gradually  grew  stronger,  but  he 
determined  to  leave  America  for  awhile,  so  shipped 
on  a  sailing  vessel  for  Java  from  whence  he  drifted  to 
Sydney,  where  I  made  his  acquaintance  as  before 
mentioned,  and  learned  this  little  episode  connected 
with  his  career. 


FOURTEENTH    EXTRACT. 

After  the  "bird-whistle"  experience  I  did  not 
see  much  of  Seldom  Seen,  who  had  associated  him- 
self with  a  small  side-show  in  the  capacity  of  "canvas- 
man;"  but  as  I  had  a  few  shillings  in  my  pocket,  left 
from  our  joint  mercantile  venture,  my  position  was 
not  quite  so  dubious  as  it  was  previous  to  making  his 
acquaintance. 

Sydney,  as  a  commercial  city,  is  far  behind  its 
rival,  Melbourne,  the  bustling  capital  of  Victoria; 
but  no  prettier  location  could  possibly  be  found  in  the 
colonies  to  live  in.  The  bay  of  Sydney  is  accounted 
among  the  finest  in  the  world  for  its  natural  beauties 
and  excellent  anchorage  ;  and  could  one  sail  in  from 
Port  Royal  Heads  on  a  fine  summer  day,  and  view 
the  delightful  green  banks  on  each  side  of  the  bay, 
dotted  here  and  there  with  handsome  white  residences, 
which,  half  hidden  among  the  trees  and  foliage,  form  a 
charming  background  to  the  already  very  striking  pic- 


142 


LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 


tare,  the  question  as  to  its  claims  would  be  ceded  with- 
out argument.  From  the  Heads  to  the  Circular  Quay, 
the  scene  that  meets  the  eye  is  one  full  of  beauty, 
that  once  seen  is  never  to  be  forgotten ;  and  I 
shall  always  remember  the  trip  I  took  to  the  Heads 
and  back,  on  the  little  steamer,  "Ly-ee-Moon,"  as 
one  of  the  pleasantest  spent  days  of  my  life. 

Flowing  past  the  city,  the  bay  becomes  the  Par- 
ramatta  river,  and  standing  on  one  of  the  many  hills 
of  Woolloomooloo,  a  suburb  of  Sydney,  a  fine  view 
ran  be  had  of  the  river  for  some  four  or  five  miles, 
the  channel  at  this  point  being  famous  as  the  pratic- 
ing  and  racing  course  of  all  the  noted  Australian  oars- 
men. About  a  dozen  miles  above  are  the  celebrated 
orange  groves  of  Parramatta.  Some  of  the  trees  at 
Pye's  Grove  are  fully  forty  feet  high,  and  when  I 
was  there  the  lower  branches  of  a  great  number 
were  bowed  almost  to  the  ground  by  their  heavy  cargo 
of  fruit.  Pears,  apples,  and  the  fragrant  guava  fruit 
also,  are  grown  here  in  great  abundance,  and  I  can 
vouch  personally  for  the  delicious  flavor  of  the  fruit. 

Botany  Bay  is  now  very  unlike  the  place  where 
England  once  transported  her  convicts,  but  is  a  verita- 


A   TRAMP  AROUND   THE   WORLD.  143 

ble  garden  of  Eden,  where  the  colonists  flock  in  great 
numbers  on  Sundays  and  holidays  to  listen  to  the 
delightful  open-air  concerts,  drink  home-brewed  beer 
and  roam  about  the  beautifully-kept  grounds. 

The  Botanical  gardens  of  Sydney  also  add  to 
the  charm  of  the  place,  and  in  them  I  spent  many  a 
pleasant  hour.  Magnificent  tropical  flowers  and  rare 
specimens  of  flora  are  to  be  seen  there,  while  the 
collection  of  wild  animals  and  birds  indigenous  to 
that  country  is  equal  to  a  whole  volume  of  natural 
history ;  and  being  free  to  the  public,  the  grounds  are 
naturally  liberally  patronized,  especially  on  Sundays, 
when  thousands  turn  out  to  enjoy  the  green  parks, 
beautiful  shade  trees  and  glorious  flowers. 

One  day,  in  company  with  a  young  "middy,"  I 
went  down  to  visit  the  dry-dock  at  Cockatoo  Island, 
and  there  saw  the  old  "Alert,"  of  Arctic  fame. 
(Which,  by  the  way,  was  recently  tendered  by  the 
British  government  for  our  use  in  the  proposed  search 
for  the  Lieut.  Greely  expedition.)  She  was  under- 
going repairs,  being  then  engaged  in  the  revenue 
service,  and  was  fitted  up  as  a  gun-boat,  for  coasting 
purposes.  We  went  down  in  a  row-boat,  and  my 


144 


LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 


friend  having  a  "permit"  to  visit  the  island,  we  were, 
entitled  to  go  aboard  and  examine  her,  which  afforded 
me  no  small  amount  of  pleasure. 

Recalling  the  perils  she  encountered  in  her  icy 
voyage,  reminded  me  of  my  aspirations  in  that  direc- 
tion two  years  previous  to  this  occasion.  I  was  then 
crazy  to  join  the  Arctic  expedition  in  the  Jeannette, 
and  in  conjunction  with  an  acquaintance  who  courted 
the  Muse  at  one  of  the  smaller  theaters,  dispatched 
an  appealing  letter  to  Capt.  De  Long,  asking  to  be 
allowed  to  ship  with  him.  I  remember  one  of  the 
strong  points  I  made  in  it  (and  done  at  the  suggestion 
of  my  friend,)  was  the  fact  of  my  being  able  to  en- 
tertain the  ship's  company  during  the  long  winter 
evenings  by  various  means  in  my  power,  and  which 
ought  to  be  an  extra  inducement  for  him  to  ship  me. 
In  view  of  this  I  learned  a  great  many  sleight-of-hand 
tricks,  comic  songs  and  other  accomplishments  of 
that  order,  all  taught  by  my  obliging  artist  acquaint- 
ance ;  but  to  no  purpose,  as  I  soon  learned.  When  I 
think  over  that  letter  now,  I  am  forced  to  smile  at 
the  absurdity  of  my  proposition  ;  when  I  read  over 
the  answer  I  received  from  Capt.  De  Long,  and  re- 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  145 

member  that  the  brave  but  unfortunate  officer  has 
been  but  a  short  time  buried  in  his  native  country,  I 
am  very  thankful  it  said  what  it  did.  Perhaps  the 
letter  I  received  from  him  may  not  be  out  of  place 
here,  so  I  give  it : 

No.  150  West  Eleventh  Street, 
Mr.  S.  T.  CLOVER,          NEW  YoRK>  APril  ist>  l&79- 

Chicago,  111. 

Sir :  Your  various  letters  have  been  received.  In 
reply,  I  would  state  that  I  have  room  in  the  Jeannette 
for  nobody  but  her  officers  and '  crew.  These  must 
be  seamen,  or  people  with  some  claim  to  scientific 
usefulness,  and  unless  you  can  be  classed  with  either 
party,  I  cannot  possibly  take  you. 

Very  respectfully, 

GEO.  W.  DE  LONG, 
Lieut. -Commanding  Arctic  Str.  Jeannette. 

This  effectually  settled  all  desire  to  take  part  in  an 
Arctic  voyage  just  then.  Yet,  when  I  stood  aboard 
the  Alert  in  Sydney  harbor,  not  knowing  De  Long's 
fate,  I  may  have  sighed  to  be  with  him.  At  present 
writing,  however,  this  insane  freak  has  totally  disap- 
peared, and  the  late  commander  of  the  Jeannette  has 
my  best  thanks,  although,  poor  fellow !  he  is  not  in 
-a  position  to  appreciate  their  worth. 


I46  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

My  shillings  having  rapidly  dwindled  during  this 
short  relaxation  from  the  regular  "hustling"  routine, 
it  behooved  me  to  recuperate  in  some  direction,  so 
noticing  in  the  Sydney  Herald  an  advertisement  for 
a  canvasser  by  the  Cologne  Ink  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, I  applied  for  and  obtained  the  billet. 

I  was  instructed  by  the  manager  to  first  call, 
with  my  samples  and  cards,  upon  the  principals  of 
all  the  schools  and  Colleges  in  and  about  Sydney  and 
endeavor  to  introduce  the  celebrated  German  "Kai- 
ser-Tinte"  writing  fluid,  to  their  particular  notice, 
and  to  this  end,  I  was  furnished  with  a  number  of 
small  sample  bottles  which  were  to  be  left  on  trial  at 
the  various  schools  I  called  at. 

Overhauling  the  directory,  I  made  out  a  list  of 
twenty-five  or  thirty  names  and  started  off,  my 
pockets  lined  with  a  couple  of  dozen  homoeopathic 
doses  of  "Kaiser-Tinte."  Most  of  my  intended  vic- 
tims were  "high-church"  professors  and  their  schools 
were  under  the  patronage  of  the  church  in  whose 
parish  they  were  located.  Thus,  beginning  with  St. 
Andrew's  on  Pitt  street,  I  visited  St.  James,  St. 
Leonard's,  St.  Mark's,  St.  Phillip's  and  all  the  other 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  147 

blessed  saints  in  the  calendar,  but  without  obtaining 
a  blessed  order;  and  totally  discouraged  I  finally  in- 
troduced myself  to  the  "head -master"  of  the  He- 
brew School  on  Castlereagh  street  and  tendered  my 
minature  samples  for  his  inspection,  at  the  same  time 
handing  him  a  circular.  He  eyed  the  latter  suspi- 
ciously over  the  edge  of  his  gold-bowed  spectacles 
and,  glancing  at  my  shabby  clothes,  said:  "Young 
man,  uf  you  don'd  get  oud  I  gife  you  in  charge  to  der 
bolice;  I  know  you;  you  vas  a  shneak-thief;  Solomon, 
show  him  oud."  Solomon  was  a  dull,  heavy-eyed 
Jew,  with  rather  big  hands  and  large,  heavy  feet, 
who  acted  as  servitor  to  the  institution.  He  pro- 
ceeded to  handle  me  rather  roughly,  which  aroused 
my  ire,  already  near  unto  bursting  from  the  doctor's 
speech,  and  just  as  we  reached  the  outside  gate,  my 
progress  having  been  accelerated  by  several  rough 
pushes  from  Solomon's  too  ready  hand,  I  turned 
round,  drew  the  cork  from  one  of  my  sample  bottles, 
let  him  have  the  contents  full  in  his  face  and  then 
darted  out  into  the  street  and  ran  for  my  life. 

Solomon  did  not  pursue  however;  his  build  would 
not  allow  of  very  rapid  transit,  and  I  was  safe,  but  as 


!48  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

I  neared  George  street  an  unlucky  stumble  threw  me 
off  my  balance  and  I  fell  heavily  on  the  stone  coping 
of  the  pavement.  I  was  not  hurt  much,  but  the  fall 
had  broken  all  my  sample  bottles  and  the  ink  quick- 
ly soaked  through  both  pockets  penetrating  to  my 
skin,  leaving  its  indelible  traces  from  my  hip  to  be- 
low the  knee  on  one  side  my  body.  My  clothes 
were  barely  presentable  before,  now  they  resembled 
the  rough  proof  of  a  badly-constructed  war  map;  the 
suit  was  light  in  color  and  the  "Kaiser-Tinte"  was 
not.  Solomon  was  amply  revenged. 

This  experience  sickened  me  of  the  ink  business, 
however,  and  when  the  agent  asked  what  had  become 
of  all  my  samples,  I  called  attention  to  my  "half- 
mourning"  suit,  whereupon  he  sarcastically  observed 
I  had  better  apply  for  a  position  as  book-keeper  since 
I  could  sling  ink  so  successfully.  This  was  a  cruel 
thrust,  but  then  these  colonials  are  young  yet  and 
when  they  grow  older  and  wiser,  will,  I  hope,  learn 
what  bad  form  it  is  to  hit  a  man  when  he  is  down. 
I  confessed  my  incompetency  to  act  as  his  agent,  so 
without  any  regrets  on  either  side,  we  parted. 

A  day  or  two  after  this  mishap,  I  strolled  out  to 


A  TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  149 

see  the  races,  at  Randwick,  given  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Australian  Jockey  Club,  and  while  there  be- 
came acquainted  with  one  of  the  "book-makers"  who 
was  well-known  upon  the  turf  and  had  liberal  patro- 
nage among  the  sporting  men.  As  the  races  were  to 
continue  for  several  weeks,  and  being  very  busy,  this 
gentleman  had  the  kindness  to  engage  me  as  his  clerk 
to  record  the  bets,  make  out  the  slips  and  figure  his 
percentage.  The  pay  was  good,  the  work  easy  and 
my  conscientious  scruples  allayed  by  the  thought 
that  only  stern  necessity  had  compelled  me  to  accept 
his  offer.  When  the  races  ended,  I  rejoiced  in  a  new 
suit  of  clothes  and  a  good  sum  saved  from  my  salary, 
beside  having  a  five-pound  note  presented  me  by  my 
employer,  who  had  been  particularly  fortunate  in  his 
book-making,  while  I  was  with  him. 

This  streak  of  luck  had  introduced  me  to  more 
comfortable  lodgings,  for  soon  after  my  engagement 
I  removed  to  a  small  hotel  on  Pitt  street,  kept  by  an 
American,  who  had  resided  in  the  colonies  several 
years.  Here  I  formed  the  acquaintance  of  a  dapper 
little  Frenchman  named  L' Estrange,  an  aeronaut  by 
profession  and  instinct.  Next  to  a  journey  to  the 


!C0  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

arctic  regions,  nothing  could  have  pleased  me  better 
than  a  trip  up  in  a  balloon;  consequently,  having 
ulterior  designs  upon  the  professor's  good-will,  I  cul- 
tivated his  acquaintance  assiduously. 

The  24th  of  May,  being  the  anniversary  of 
Queen  Victoria's  birthday,  the  colonials,  who  are 
very  patriotic,  especially  when  a  holiday  is  the  out- 
come, resolved  to  celebrate  the  happy  event  by  a 
grand  fete,  to  be  given  in  the  public  domain  in  the 
evening,  the  programme  to  consist  of  speech-making, 
fireworks,  music  and  dancing,  the  whole  to  conclude 
with  a  grand  balloon  ascension  given  by  my  friend 
Henri  L' Estrange.  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to 
ascend  with  him. 

It  took  a  long  period  of  coaxing  before  I  gained 
the  point,  but  he  finally  consented,  and  like  any 
other  idiot,  I  was  supremely  happy — for  a  time.  As 
the  day  drew  near  I  was  conscious  of  a  growing  ner- 
vousness on  the  subject,  induced  no  doubt,  by  a  visit 
to  the  public  library,  where  I  read  up  all  the  authori- 
ties on  aerostatics,  that  I  could  find,  the  French  sta- 
tistics being  especially  interesting — and  discouraging 
to  a  novice. 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  151 

It  was  too  late  to  back  out,  however,  and  the 
evening  of  the  twenty-fourth  saw  me  in  company 
with  the  professor  trudging  over  to  the  grounds.  It 
was  a  beautiful  star-lit  night;  there  was  no  moon,  but 
the  atmosphere  was  singularly  clear  and  bright, 
and  objects  could  be  discerned  for  some  distance 
away.  Henri  had  previously  made  arrangements 
about  having  the  balloon  filled  with  gas  so  that  when 
we  arrived  the  huge  silken  bag  was  surging  to  and 
fro,  as  if  anxious  to  escape  from  the  thraldom  it  was 
subjected  to,  by  the  dozen  ropes  that  pinned  it  to  the 
earth. 

There  was  considerable  delay  in  starting  owing 
to  the  inferior  quality  of  the  gas,  which,  while  it  filled 
the  folds  of  the  bag,  yet  lacked  sufficient  power  to 
be  of  the  required  buoyancy,  and  I  fervently  hoped 
that  L' Estrange  would  be  obliged  to  refuse  me  at 
last  on  this  account.  But  no;  he  motioned  me  into 
the  car,  gave  the  signal  to  let  go,  and  in  a  grand  blaze 
of  fireworks  we  shot  quickly  up. 

Those  of  my  readers  who  have  ridden  on  a  very 
fast  water-power  elevator  to  the  top  story  of  a  first- 
class  building  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives,  may  be 


IS2 


LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 


able  to  form  some  little  conception  of  the  feelings  I 
experienced  as  we  mounted  skyward.  For  two 
or  three  minutes  I  was  unable  to  speak  or  think,  but 
grasped  the  wicker  car  in  an  agony  of  suspense,  and 
inwardly  vowed  that  if  I  ever  got  back  to  terra  firma 
not  all  the  gold  of  a  Vanderbilt  could  tempt  me  to 
leave  it. 

"We  had  ascended  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
when  my  senses  began  slowly  to  return,  and  I  caught 
sight  of  Henri  looking  fixedly  across  from  his  seat  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  car;  he  was  laughing — and 
at  me.  This  braced  me  up,  and  I  plucked  courage 
from  the  very  desperateness  of  the  situation,  to  grin 
back,  but  it  was  a  ghastly  attempt,  I  am  sure,  for  the 
market  was  scarcely  ripe  that  produced  it,  seeing 
which  L' Estrange  desisted,  and  called  my  attention 
to  the  fact  that  we  were  descending. 

The  gas  was  unequal  to  our  combined  weight, 
together  with  the  car,  and  we  settled  slowly  but  sure- 
ly, finally  landing  within  a  hundred  feet  of  our 
starting  point.  The  ropes  were  quickly  made  fast  to 
the  tmwieldly  mass,  and  with  a  thankful  heart,  1 
jumped  out  and  stamped  firmly  upon  mother  Earth, 


A    TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  153 

with  inward  satisfaction  at  the  speedy  termination 
of  my  aerial  voyage. 

The  professor  was  not  satisfied  with  his  share 
in  it  however,  and  sent  notices  round  to  all  the 
papers  that  he  would  make  another  attempt  the 
following  evening.  The  fact  was  duly  advertised  and 
a  big  crowd  gathered  the  next  night  to  see  him  off. 
This  time  he  went  alone.  The  gas  was  still  bad, 
but,  rather  than  disappoint  the  people,  Henri  had 
the  car  detached,  secured  himself  in  the  net-work  of 
the  balloon,  and,  in  this  manner,  had  the  hardi- 
hood to  ascend. 

The  "  Empress  of  the  Night  "  soared  grandly 
up;  L' Estrange  meantime,  with  cap  in  hand,  wav- 
ing an  adieu  to  his  audience.  He  did  not  rise  very 
high,  but  gradually  veered  south,  toward  George 
Street,  the  crowd  following  on  foot,  and  eagerly 
watching  his  progress.'  Barely  escaping  a  net-work 
of  chimneys  on  one  of  the  larger  buildings  of  that 
street,  the  balloon  continued  sinking,  and  the  crowd 
stood  ready  to  help  aeronaut  out  the  moment  he 
touched  the  ground. 

Just  as  everything  pointed  to  a  speedy  and  safe 


Iij4  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

descent,  the  balloon  passed  by  the  open  window  of  a 
large  building  on  George  Street,  where  a  lighted 
lamp  stood  on  the  table.  The  escaping  gas  ignited, 
exploding  with  a  terrific  noise,  and  poor  L' Estrange 
fell  like  lead  upon  the  roof  of  a  small  shed  which 
stood  about  a  dozen  feet  below. 

Fortunately  he  had  escaped  being  singed  by 
the  flames,  but  he  struck  in  such  a  manner  that  his 
arm  was  doubled  under  his  body,  and  a  broken 
wrist  was,  luckily,  the  worst  result. 

I  was  effectually  cured  of  Arctic  aspirations  by 
reading  of  DeLong's  hardships;  I  was  also  cured  of 
aeronautics  by  this  personal  observation. 


FIFTEENTH    EXTRACT. 

I  had  been  absent  from  Chicago  nearly  nine 
months,  and  during  all  that  time  had  only  received 
two  letters  from  home,  my  movements  having  been 
so  erratic  it  was  impossible  to  locate  me.  In  my  last 
letter  to  the  folks,  written  and  mailed  at  Honolulu,  I 
had  requested  an  answer  to  be  sent,  care  of  general 
post-office,  at  Sydney,  N.  S.  W.,  and  for  some  time 
had  been  anxiously  expecting  it,  as  I  especially  wished 
to  learn  the  address  of  some  near  relatives  who  re- 
sided somewhere  in  the  colonies. 

A  day  or  two  after  the  balloon  episode,  while 
walking  down  George  street  I  noticed  the  flag  was 
hoisted  from  the  post-office  building,  a  signal  that  the 
mail-steamer  had  arrived.  In  answer  to  my  inquiries 
at  the  general-delivery  window,  the  clerk  rapidly  ran 
over  the  pile  of  "C's"  and  handed  me  out  four  bulky- 
looking  missives,  bearing  the  familiar  U.  S.  stamp  on 
their  faces.  I  greedily  seized  them,  and  made  a 


156 


LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 


hasty  exit  from  the  building,  going  over  to  the  Botan- 
ical Gardens,  where,  under  the  shade  of  a  friendly 
palm-tree,  free  from  all  curious  eyes,  I  eagerly  perused 
the  contents  of  my  letters. 

"News  from  home !"  Who  has  not  felt  his  pulse 
quicken  when,  thousands  of  miles  from  friends,  and 
in  foreign  countries,  he  opens  his  correspondence  to 
read  the  interesting  details,  penned  by  a  loving  hand, 
of  the  hundred  and  one  things  that  have  happened 
during  a  prolonged  absence.?  Of  friends  married,  of 
friends  dead;  of  business  troubles  or  advancements, 
of  wonderful  personal  adventures,  and  narrow  escapes 
from  accidents ;  of  sister's  latest  successes  at  school, 
and  the  baby's  last  extraordinary  bright  saying.  All 
these  events  in  their  turn  were  duly  recorded,  inter- 
mingled with  many  loving  wishes  for  the  wanderer, 
and  "God  speeds"  for  a  safe  return.  Never  in  my 
life  have  letters  received  a  warmer  welcome  than  on 
that  occasion,  and  he  who  has  journeyed  far  away 
from  loved  ones  at  home  will  appreciate  the  feelings 
that  took  possession  of  me  at  that  period. 

I  learned,  among  various  other  items  of  interest, 
that  the  very  near  and  dear  relative  of  my  mother 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  157 

lived  with  his  family  at  Adelaide,  South  Australia,  and 
to  whom  she  had  already  written  of  my  advent  in 
that  part  of  the  globe,  so  that  they  would  be  ready 
to  receive  and  welcome  me  when  I  put  in  an  appear- 
ance. 

Having  experienced  considerable  more  of  rough- 
ing it  in  these  far-away  islands  than  I  felt  was  due 
me,  I  determined  to  take  the  other  tack  for  a  time, 
and  enjoy  the  comforts  of  a  nice  home  and  the  com- 
panionship of  cultured  people,  for  such  I  felt  assured 
my  relatives  would  prove  to  be ;  so  two  days  after 
receiving  my  letters  I  left  Sydney  on  the  steamer  City 
of  Adelaide,  for  Adelaide,  via  Melbourne. 

My  late  engagement  as  clerk  to  the  '-'bookmaker" 
had  left  me  in  good  funds  and  I  was  well  supplied 
with  clothes,  so  that  I  was  under  no  apprehension  as 
to  my  personal  exterior,  and  with  economy  I  could 
make  my  money  last  until  I  returned  to  Sydney,  from 
which  point  I  intended  shipping  to  London. 

Two  days  and  nights  on  the  water  landed  me  at 
the  Queen's  wharf  in  Melbourne,  and  as  I  wanted  to 
see  something  of  this  city  before  leaving  Australia — 
not  having  been  able  to  on  my  previous  visit — I  con- 


!^3  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

eluded  to  stay  over  a  day  or  two  before  proceeding 
on  my  journey  to  South  Australia. 

Melbourne  has  a  river  that  even  a  Chicagoan 
would  take  exception  to.  It  is  called  the  Yarra,  and 
is  a  veritable  cess-pool,  emitting  the  most  offensive 
smells,  that  in  warm  weather  are  positively  unbear- 
able ;  yet  despite  this  fact,  much  of  the  water  used 
for  drinking  purposes  is  obtained  from  this  very  river 
after  being  filtered.  It  is  termed  locally,  "Yan  Yean" 
water.  I  drank  some  once  by  mistake,  and  it  made 
me  very  sick. 

The  public  buildings  of  Melbourne  are  very  beau- 
tiful edifices,  and  a  credit  to  the  government.  The 
city  hall  and  new  post-office  buildings,  constructed  of 
clear  white  polished  granite,  especially  attracted  my 
attention  and  admiration,  not  only  on  account  of 
their  superior  construction  and  beauty  of  architecture, 
but  by  their  massive  size  and  imposing  appearance. 
The  streets  are  wide,  cleanly  kept  and  well  paved, 
but  the  sewerage  is  very  bad,  the  gutters  after  a  heavy 
rain-storm  often  becoming  miniature  torrents ;  and  it 
is  on  record  there  that  upon  one  occasion,  after  a 
severe  storm,  a  young  child  fell  from  the  sidewalk 


TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  159 

into  the  gutter  and  was  drowned  before  assistance 
could  be  rendered. 

There  is  one  bad  feature  of  this  city  that  must 
strike  the  most  casual  observer,  and  that  is  the  great 
number  of  demi-monde  parading  the  streets,  even  in 
the  principal  thoroughfares  of  the  town.  After  nine 
in  the  evening,  continuing  until  nearly  midnight, 
Bourke  and  Swanston  streets  are  literally  packed  with 
these  nymphs  du  pave,  who  strut  boldly  up  and  down 
the  wide  pavement,  their  favorite  beat  generally  ex- 
tending from  the  city  hall  to  Bourke  street  and  return. 

The  sheep  herders  from  "up  country"  are  thefr 
favorite  victims,  these  poor  devils  generally  falling  an 
easy  prey  to  their  wiles.  A  sheep  tender  will  come 
down  to  the  city  once  or  twice  a  year  with  his  accrued 
savings,  earned  by  a  long  and  tedious  exile  at  his 
"station"  in  the  bush,  and  deliberately  proceed  to 
squander  them  away  in  a  series  of  "drunks"  and  com- 
panionship with  lewd  women. 

The  favorite  plan  is  to  deposit  their  money  upon 
arriving  in  town  with  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel 
where  they  intend  boarding  during  their  stay,  and 
make  him  their  banker.  The  boniface  keeps  them 


X6o  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

well  supplied  until  there  is  barely  enough  left  to  pay 
the  board  bill  and  carry  them  back  to  their  solitary 
home  in  the  bush,  when  having  run  their  rope,  the 
fun  (?)  is  ended  for  the  season,  and  they  go  back  to 
save  up  for  their  next  visit,  when  the  same  program 
is  enacted. 

The  jaunty  little  steamer  "Aldinga"  carried  me 
from  Melbourne,  ploughing  its  way  through  the  tor- 
tuous Yarra  to  Sandridge,  the  port  of  Melbourne, 
where  all  the  "deep-water"  vessels  lie  at  anchor  in 
Hobson's  Bay.  On  our  way  to  the  Heads  we  were 
startled  by  a  terrific  explosion,  evidently  proceeding 
from  a  large  gun-boat  stationed  in  the  bay.  We  were 
too  far  off  to  turn  back,  but  knew  from  the  commo- 
tion that  something  serious  had  happened  ;  and  upon 
arriving  at  Adelaide  learned  that  a  boat's  crew  from 
the  turret  ship,  while  engaged  in  placing  loaded 
shells  for  submarine-defence  experiments,  had  been 
blown  into  atoms  through  the  carelessness  of  one  of 
their  number,  who  had  touched  the  electric  battery 
and  fired  the  torpedoes  before  giving  them  time  to 
pull  to  a  safe  distance.  It  was  a  sad  occurrence,  and 
caused  much  comment,  the  colonial  press  as  a  body 


A   TRAMP  AROUND   THE   WORLD.  l6l 

denouncing  such  dangerous  experiments  as  foolhardy 
unless  practiced  under  the  particular  charge  of  an  ex- 
perienced electrician. 

I  was  not  at  all  disappointed  in  the  estimate  I 
had  formed  of  my  Australian  cousins ;  they  made 
me  very  welcome,  and  each  individual  member  of 
the  family  vied  with  one  another  to  entertain  me 
during  my  protracted  stay  of  six  weeks,  I  was  re- 
ceived as  one  of  the  family  from  my  first  appear- 
ance, made  much  of  by  my  fair  cousins  ;  as  a  brother 
by  the  male  portion  and  a  son  by  the  parents ;  noth- 
ing, in  short,  could  have  exceeded  the  kind  and  con- 
siderate attention  I  received,  and  I  take  this  oppor- 
tunity of  extending  my  warmest  thanks  for  their 
many  kindnesses  to  one  whom  they  had  never  seen 
before,  but  who  happened  to  be  the  son  of  his 
mother. 

Yachting,  cricketing,  trips  to  the  neighboring 
summer  resort  at  Glenelg,  (which  latter  place  is  the 
Coney  Island  of  South  Australia);  picnics,  moon- 
light excursions,  dancing  and  card  parties  ;  all  com- 
bined to  make  a  very  enjoyable  visit  and  one  that  I 
shall  never  forget.  I  made  desperate  love  to  all  my 


Z62  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

fair  cousins,  from  the  saucy  miss  of  fifteen  to  her 
sweet,  sedate  sister,  ten  years  older,  in  fact  took  all 
fair  advantage  of  my  ties  of  consanguinity  that  could 
be  admitted  and  was  very  proud  of  the  privileges  it 
gave,  even  if  it  did  make  some  of  the  Adelaide  boys, 
admirers  of  my  fair  cousins,  fearfully  jealous  during 
my  stay. 

I  appreciated  the  pleasant  lines  into  which  my 
lot  had  fallen,  the  more,  because  of  the  harsh  con- 
trasts to  which  I  had  been  subjected  previously, 
and  I  should  very  much  like  to  dwell  longer  over 
this  visit,  but  being  afraid  that  some  of  my  more 
critical  readers  will  object  to  enlarging  further  upon 

it  I  am  forced  to  be  brief. 

It  was  with  a  heavy  heart  that  I  said  farewell  to 
Adelaide.  The  little  city  is  charmingly  situated, 
located  as  it  is  in  a  beautiful  valley,  bounded  on  both 
sides  and  rear  by  a  chain  of  mountains,  while  in 
front  flow  the  bright  blue  waves  of  the  Southern 
Pacific.  But  my  funds  were  getting  low ;  I  was  still 
a  gentleman  of  leisure,  and  having  lavishly  opened 
my  purse  at  every  opportunity  I  considered  it  ad- 
visable to  beat  an  honorable  retreat  while  the  course 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE   WORLD'  163 

was  clear.  Not  a  word  about  "circus"  had  I  men- 
tioned ;  not  that  I  had  attempted  to  deceive  but 
because  I  did  not  wish  to  offend  the  tastes  of  certain 
of  my  relatives'  particular  friends,  who  would  have 
looked  upon  me  with  holy  horror  at  the  bare  men- 
tion of  the  word. 

The  trip  back  to  Sydney  was  a  slow  and  tedious 
one;  head  winds  harassing  us  all  the  way.  During 
the  voyage  I  was  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  a 
game  called  "  Nap,"  which  is  as  great  a  favorite  in 
the  colonies  as  poker  is  with  us.  It  is  somewhat 
similar  to  Pedro,  but  much  more  exciting.  The  cap- 
tains of  the  steamships  plying  between  Adelaide, 
Melbourne  and  Sydney  used  to  join  the  passengers 
in  the  game  at  every  opportunity,  but  once,  while  a 
captain  was  engaged  in  its  seductive  charms,  his  ves- 
sel collided  with  another,  the  passengers  and  crew 
barely  escaping  with  their  lives;  and  after  that  the 
managers  of  the  steamship  line  issued  a  peremptory 
order  forbidding  all  commanders  to  play  at  any  game 
while  in  charge  of  their  vessel,  instant  dismissal  from 
the  service  following  any  infringement  of  the  rule. 

Our  captain  used  to  sit  in  the  smoking  room  on 


!64  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

deck  and  watch  the  game  with  wistful  eyes,  for  on 
account  of  the  bothering  head  winds,  we  made  slow 
progress  and  time  being  heavy  on  his  hands;  but 
he  did  not  dare  take  a  hand,  as  the  mates  on  each 
boat  were  very  keen  for  promotion  and  would  have 
reported  the  delinquent  skipper  without  fall. 

I  arrived  in  Sydney  just  in  time  to  see  the  "pos- 
itively last  performance  of  the  '  Great  American ' 
Circus,'  "  my  former  acquaintance  of  New  Zealand 
and  arena  of  various  foolhardy  exploits.  I  had  made 
several  warm  friends  among  the  troupe  and  they  ap~ 
peared  very  glad  to  see  me  again,  but  their  stay  was 
short,  and  three  days  later  I  stood  upon  the  circular 
quay  and  watched  the  Pacific  Mail  steamer  move 
slowly  away  from  her  moorings,  on  her  way  to  the 
heads,  en  route  to  San  Francisco  with  all  the  circus 
people  on  board. 

April  2ist,  Thursday:  Again  I  am  left  alone; 
it  seems  as  though  my  entire  wanderings  had  been 
spent  in  making  friends  and  losing  them,  just  as  they 
were  growing  particularly  interesting,  but  I  suppose 
it  is  the  traveler's  usual  fate  that  one  must  gradu- 
ally get  accustumed  to,  so  I  must  grin  and  bear  it. 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE   WORLD.  165 

Friday,  22d  :  Am  getting  tired  of  Australia 
and  very  homesick.  Shall  endeavor  to  ship  on  the 
next  Orient  boat  that  comes  in  as  ordinary  seaman 
or  steward,  the  latter,  if  possible,  as  I  doubt  if  I  am 
yet  strong  enough  for  the  hardships  of  life  on  the 
fo'castle  again.  This  afternoon  while  walking  down 
Pitt  street  found  a  small  peculiarly-shaped  key,  evi- 
dently belonging  to  a  safe  ;  shall  keep  it  and  see  if 
the  owner  advertises  for  it. 

23d,  Saturday  :  Verily,  i:  God  helps  those  who 
help  themselves."  This  morning's  Herald  con- 
tained advertisement  for  lost  key,  finder  to  call  at 
Queensland  Bank.  Manager  of  bank  described  an'l 
proved  key  as  his  property  and  tendered  me  com- 
pensation for  trouble.  Refused  offer,  but  asked  him 
for  letter  to  the  manager  of  the  Orient  Steamship 
Company,  explaining  that  I  wanted  to  ship.  Prom- 
ised to  use  his  influence  and  told  me  to  call  again 
the  next  Saturday. 

The  week  passed  slowly  enough.  My  appetite 
at  this  time  was  positively  voracious,  yet  on  account 
of  my  scarcity  of  funds  I  was  obliged  to  restrict  my- 
self to  one  meal  per  day,  usually  eating  a  three 


1 66  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

o'clock  dinner.  To  shorten  the  time  between  meals 
as  much  as  possible  I  would  read  after  dinner  at  the 
public  library  until  ten  o'clock,  then  borrow  an  in- 
teresting book,  go  to  my  room  and  read  until  three 
or  four  in  the  morning,  then  sleep  until  two  in  the 
afternoon,  thus  saving  the  expense  of  breakfast,  and 
making  dinner  serve  as  supper  also. 

Saturday  came,  and  as  soon  as  I  dared  I  repaired 
to  the  bank  to  interview  the  manager.  He  was  as 
good  as  his  word,  nay,  better ;  for  he  had  spoken 
personally  to  the  manager  of  the  steamship  company 
and  the  latter  had  promised  to  give  me  a  letter  to 
the  captain  of  the  incoming  vessel,  that  being  the 
extent  of  his  authority;  but  it  satisfied  me,  for  I  felt 
sure  that  with  a  recommendation  from  the  agents  I 
should  have  no  trouble  in  getting  a  berth.  Nor  did 
I.  The  captain  indorsed  my  letter  and  bade  me  see 
the  chief  steward  and  let  him  read  it.  The  fates 
were  propitious,  one  of  the  under-stewards  had  met 
with  an  accident  which  disabled  him  from  work,  and 
I  was  at  once  shipped  to  fill  the  void. 


SIXTEENTH  EXTRACT. 

I  was  assigned  to  the  duties  of  under-steward  or 
"general  servant,"  and  if  I  had  an  easy  time  on 
shore  during  the  preceding  weeks,  I  more  than  made 
up  for  it  by  my  first  week  on  board  the  "  Chimbor- 
azo." 

I  used  to  think  life  before  the  mast  as  ord  inary 
seaman  aboard  the  Pacific  mail  boats  was  pretty  hard 
work,  but  it  was  mere  apprenticeship  to  my  present 
duties. 

While  in  port  we  were  all  kept  very  busy  scrub- 
bing the  paintwork  on  the  main  or  saloon  deck,  clean, 
ing  the  silverware,  getting  in  stores  and  holystoning 
the  main  deck,  that  being  entirely  under  the  stew- 
ard's charge,  and  apart  from  the  sailors'  duties.  The 
latter  job  was  not  begun  until  after  coaling,  when  the 
boards  were  fairly  black  with  the  searching  dust  that 
had  settled  everywhere.  My  back  ached  for  nearly 
two  weeks  over  this  pleasant  task,  and  I  do  not  think 


lC8  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

I  shall  forget  my  initiatory  performance  in  this  line  if 
I  live  a  hundred  years. 

Getting  in  ice,  however,  was  the  final  coup,  that 
nearly  sent  me  adrift.  As  the  homeward  course  lay 
directly  through  the  very  hottest  latitudes,  this  was  a 
very  essential  part  of  the  commissariat,  and  to  keep 
well,  the  ice  had  to  be  very  closely  packed.  Four  of 
us  were  detailed  to  enter  the  freezing  compartment 
and  store  the  ice  away  as  it  was  swung  down  to  the 
lower  deck.  The  room  was  long  and  narrow,  so  that 
as  the  congealed  lumps  began  piling  up,  it  soon  be- 
came necessary  to  lie  at  full  length  upon  the  frozen 
blocks,  and  with  our  picks  stop  up  all  the  crevices 
with  broken  pieces,  in  order  to  make  it  pack  well. 
I  occupied  this  enviable  position  for  nearly  four  hours, 
lying  alternately  upon  my  back  and  stomach  with 
only  a  potato  sack  between  my  thin  serge  pants  and 
the  chilling  ice.  When  we  had  finished,  the  doctor 
ordered  us  a  double  dose  of  brandy,  and  told  us  to 
put  our  wet  clothes  in  the  dry  room  and  "  turn  in." 

Our  sleeping  quarters  were  designated  by  the 
boys  "Glory  Hole,"  and  was  known  as  such  through- 
out the  ship.  It  was  situated  just  forward  of  the 


A   TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD'  169 

main  saloon  on  the  deck  below,  and  was  separated 
only  by  a  thin  partition  from  where  the  passengers' 
baggage  lay  stored.  It  was  a  dark,  dreary  hole  fitted 
up  with  a  number  of  wooden  bunks  or  "  pews,"  as 
they  were  dubbed,  and  lighted  by  an  oil  lamp,  which 
hung  from  the  center  of  the  room. 

Between  twenty  and  thirty  stewards  were  forced  to 
sleep  in  this  stifling  atmosphere,  night  after  night, 
such  being  the  only  accommodation  provided  for 
them  on  the  ship;  but  they  were  mostly  young  fel- 
lows mured  to  hardships,  and  I  heard  very  little  com- 
plaint while  my  lot  was  cast  with  them. 

From  the  moment  of  my  introduction  to  the 
"  Glory  Hole"  I  had  been  christened  "  Yank"  by  the 
wit  of  the  mess,  an  illiterate  genius  called  "  Scully," 
so  named  from  his  filling  the  position  of  scullery  boy 
in  the  cook's  kitchen,  his  duties  being  to  clean  the 
various  pots  and  pans  used  in  the  culinary  depart- 
ment. He  could  neither  read  nor  write,  but  was  the 
brightest  specimen  of  native  British  humor  I  ever 
happened  across.  Shipped  at  London,  it  naturally 
followed  that  my  messmates  were  Britishers  and 
mostly  cockneys,  too,  so  that  my  nom  de  voyage 


i  yo 


LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 


stuck  to  me  throughout  the  tripe,  and  was  indeed 
the  only  name  I  was  known  by. 

From  Sydney  we  went  to  Melbourne,  where  more 
passengers  and  stores  were  taken  aboard,  the  latter 
consisting  principally  of  poultry,  bullocks,  hay,  grain, 
etc.  It  was  what  we  termed  a  "  field  day"  among 
us,  the  latter  expression  being  a  pet  phrase  with  the 
boys  when  any  extra  work  was  on  hand.  Our  next 
and  last  call  at  Australian  ports  was  at  Adelaide, 
where  we  completed  our  list  of  stores  by  taking  in  a 
quantity  of  flour,  and  also  shipped  several  more  pas- 
sengers. I  wanted  very  much  to  go  ashore  and  say 
farewell  to  my  cousins,  but  it  was  impossible,  as  we 
were  only  to  stay  a  few  hours. 

Leaving  Adelaide  we  steamed  directly  for  Cape 
Leewin,  which  is  at  the  southern  extremity  of  West- 
ern Australia,  and  the  last  bit  of  land  we  should  see 
until  we  sighted  Cape  Guardafui  on  the  extreme  east- 
ern point  of  Africa. 

In  rounding  Cape  Leewin  we  experienced  very 
dirty  weather,  several  bullocks  dying  from  the  ex- 
posure on  deck  to  the  cold,  or  killed  by  the  force  of 
the  waves  which  are  always  very  rough  at  this  point. 


A  TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD.  1 71 

Quite  a  funny  incident  occurred  at  this  time;  it  hap- 
pened during  my  "  saloon  watch' '  from  1 2  to  2 
a.  m.  The  port-holes  had  all  been  snugly  secured 
for  the  night  in  the  saloon,  and  the  passengers  had 
been  warned  previously  on  no  account  to  open  those 
in  the  state  rooms;  but  an  obstinate  John  Bull,  who 
thought  he  knew  more  than  the  officer  on  duty,  ven- 
tured to  disobey  this  order,  and  retired  leaving  the 
port-holes  partially  open. 

He  was  rudely  awakened  from  his  slumbers  by 
an  unruly  rush  of  waters  through  the  port,  that  com- 
pletely drenched  the  cabin,  poured  into  his  berth  and 
half-drowned  the  occupant.  Sputtering  wildly  and 
nearly  choked  with  the  salt  water,  he  leaped  from 
his  bunk  and  rushed  out  into  the  saloon  gasping  out 
that  he  was  drowning  and  the  ship  sinking.  Guess- 
ing the  cause  of  his  fright,  I  ran  into  his  state-room 
and  waiting  for  a  favorable  lurch  of  the  vessel 
managed  to  close  the  port  and  secure  it  before  the 
water  had  a  chance  to  force  back  into  the  cabin;  but 
I  had  a  nice  task  before  me  in  mopping  up  the 
water  we  had  shipped.  I  had  one  satisfaction,  how- 
ever ;  the  passenger's  clothes  scattered  through  the 


172 


LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 


state-room  were  drenched  through  with  salt  water  and 
completely  spoiled  ;  it  taught  him  such  a  lesson  that 
rather  than  undergo  a  like  experience  again,  he  kept 
his  port  closed  during  the  hottest  nights  while  in  the 
Red  Sea  and  was  almost  suffocated. 

After  leaving  Cape  Leewin  the  weather  moder- 
ated materially,  but  on  our  first  Sunday  at  sea  it  was 
still  too  rough  to  hold  services  on  deck,  so  they  oc- 
curred in  the  main  saloon,  crew  and  passengers  all  be- 
ing invited,  the  captain  officiating.  As  I  was  very 
tired,  I  passed  the  hour  in  my  "  pew  "  taking  a  short 
rest  and  in  appropriate  meditation,  subjected  to  a 
running  fire  of  commentaries  from  my  comrades  who 
had  also  taken  advantage  of  the  temporary  lull  and 
were  discussing  current  events,  which  were  dished 
up  in  the  choicest  of  cockney  dialect. 

We  had  about  a  dozen  children  among  the  sa- 
loon passengers,  and  two  or  three  nurses.  These 
were  assigned  to  the  children's  table,  and,  greatly  to 
my  disgust,  I  was  appointed  purveyor.  This  meant 
so  much  extra  work  all  through  the  voyage,  as  their 
meals  occurring  about  half  an  hour  before  the  regular 
meal  time,  I  was  expected  to  get  everything  cleared 


A    TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WORLD"  173 

away  before  the  next  table  was  set,  and  then  assist 
in  getting  the  latter  ready,  There  was  certainly  no 
idling  on  board  the  Chimborazo,  and  especially 
among  the  dwellers  of  the  "  Glory  Hole. ' ' 

I  will  give  a  brief  resume  of  the  day's  labor, 
which  will  show  more  clearly  how  my  time  was  occu- 
pied, and  also  how  the  long,  monotonous  days  were 
passed,  and  this  sketch  represents  not  one,  but  every 
day  of  the  long  six  weeks'  voyage. 

At  a  quarter  to  five  the  "deck  man"  stumbled 
down  the  companion  into  our  den  and  aroused  the 
tired  occupants  of  the  "  pews  "  with  a  "  Now  then, 
tumble  out,  sleepy,  two  bells  just  struck,  get  up  on 
deck!"  and  with  many  a  yawn  and  half-muttered  im- 
precation we  lazily  dress  and  seek  the  purer  air  above. 
Each  man  is  supplied  with  a  bucket  and  scrubbing 
brush  at  the  beginning  of  the  voyage,  which  he  is  ex- 
pected to  be  responsible  for,  but  the  boys  used  to 
steal  each  other's  brushes  and  erase  the  private  marks, 
so  that  every  morning  would  see  some  one  minus 
either  a  bucket  or  brush  engaged  in  a  search  after  the 
missing  article. 


174 


LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 


My  first  duty  after  tumbling  out  was  to  take  my 
bucket  and  brush  from  where  they  were  stowed  away 
and  scrub  fifty  feet  of  the  main  deck,  which  generally 
occupied  an  hour  and  half;  a  somewhat  hard  "  eye- 
opener"  to  start  in  with.  Then  work  for  an  hour  in 
the  saloon,  polishing  up  the  glasses  in  the  racks,  or 
the  brass-work  on  the  punkah  rods.  At  7:30  I  went 
below  to  dress  for  the  children's  breakfast  at  eight. 
At  nine  occurred  the  regular  saloon  breakfast,  after 
which  we  were  permitted  to  eat  our  own  meal,  then 
more  cleaning  in  the  saloon,  getting  ready  for  inspec- 
tion at  eleven;  polishing  sky-lights  or  silverware  took 
until  twelve,  when  children's  dinner  had  to  be  served 
up.  Saloon  lunch  at  one,  after  which,  if  it  was  no 
a  "field  day"  (/.  <?.  extra  work,  hauling  stores  or 
"  humping  spuds  "  from  the  store  room  forward,  or 
passing  up  beer  cases  from  the  lazerette),  we  were  al- 
lowed an  hour  or  so  of  much  needed  rest.  At  five, 
children's  tea,  which  I  had  to  get  ready  alone;  saloon 
dinner  at  six;  our  own  at  7.30  p.  m.,  which  was  fol- 
lowed immediately  by  saloon  tea  at  eight. 

Every  other  night  my  rest  was  broken  by  a  mid- 
night watch  from  12  to  2,  or  2  to  4,  so  that  one  can 


A   TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  175 

readily  see  that  life  on  the  Chimborazo  was  not  a 
bed  of  down,  by  any  means. 

Our  second  Sunday  at  sea  was  marked  by  a  bur- 
ial, the  first  I  had  ever  witnessed  on  the  ocean.  The 
day  previous  a  young  woman  belonging  in  the  steer- 
age died  of  consumption.  Her  only  relative  on  board 
was  a  brother,  who  was  taking  her  back  to  Wales  to 
die,  knowing  she  was  beyond  recovery.  He  sobbed 
incessantly  during  the  funeral  service,  and  when  the 
body,  sewn  up  in  canvas  and  weighted  down  with 
iron  slugs,  was  shot  over  the  side,  he  was  with  diffi- 
culty restrained  from  jumping  over  after  it.  Alto- 
gether it  was  a  very  affecting  scene. 

On  the  Wednesday  following  another  death  oc- 
curred, this  time  one  of  the  saloon  passengers.  It 
happened  during  my  watch.  I  had  just  returned  from 
the '' grand  rounds"  in  the  second  cabin,  and  was 
trimming  the  oil  lamp  that  swung  from  the  rack,  when 
I  heard  a  faint  cry  issue  from  one  of  the  state  rooms. 
Knowing  the  doctor  had  been  attending  a  sick  pas- 
senger, I  surmised  at  once  from  whence  the  sound 
issued  and  went  hastily  in.  The  poor  fellow  was 
gasping  for  breath  and  black  in  the  face  from  his 


176 


LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 


exertions.  I  rushed  at  once  for  the  doctor,  who 
came  immediately,  but  before  he  reached  the  sick 
man's  cabin,  his  services  were  not  needed.  The  de- 
ceased was  an  invalid  who  had  amassed  a  fortune  in 
tin-mining  in  New  South  Wales,  but  had  ruined  his 
health  in  the  struggle  and  died  without  reaping  any 
benefit  from  his  life-long  exertions.  He  was  buried 
next  morning  just  before  breakfast,  at  eight  bells. 

The  passengers,  as  is  usual,  used  to  get  up  pools 
on  the  ship's  run,  and  this  excitement  never  flagged  ; 
in  fact  it  was  the  one  redeeming  feature  of  the  day, 
and  as  soon  as  the  run  was  posted  and  the  lucky 
fellow  duly  admired  the  passengers  relapsed  into  their 
ordinary  apathy  and  tried  to  kill  time  by  reading 
flirting,  card-playing  or  smoking,  as  their  tastes  or 
ambitions  prompted.  In  a  smaller  way,  we,  of  the 
rank  and  file,  also  made  up  pools  among  ourselves  on 
the  run,  and  one  day  after  putting  in  a  shilling  and 
taking  the  only  number  left,  I  won  the  sweepstakes 
of  fifteen  shillings ;  the  run  was  297  miles.  The  next 
day  the  run  was  312  miles,  and  my  number  was  313 ; 
it  was  close  enough  to  be  exasperating,  but  as  I  won 
several  pools  on  the  voyage,  I  came  out  ahead  finally. 


A  TRAMP  AROUND   THE   WORLD.  177 

The  third  day  of  July  was  our  third  Sunday  at 
sea,  and  as  we  were  close  to  the  Equator,  the  weather 
was  very  warm;  but  a  good  breeze  was  blowing  which 
was  very  refreshing,  and  as  we  stood  bare-headed 
listening  to  the  captain  as  he  read  the  service  from 
the  prayer-book,  the  sailors  standing  in  a  row  with 
their  bright  blue  jerseys,  I  thought  I  had  never  wit- 
nessed such  a  picturesque  scene.  The  sea  was  like 
glass,  the  quarter  deck  almost  clean  enough  to  eat 
from,  and  the  canvas  flapping  lazily  overhead,  seemed 
to  swell  the  chorus  of  voices  like  that  of  an  organ 
after  the  singing  has  subsided. 

We  celebrated  the  "glorious  fourth"  by  cross- 
ing the  Equator.  The  nearest  approach  to  an 
American  among  the  passengers  was  a  Canadian,  who 
however  did  the  honors  by  getting  up  an  entertain- 
ment in  the  smoking-room,  assisted  by  three  or  four 
Englishmen.  It  was  a  nigger-minstrel  show,  profes- 
sedly, but  after  the  visitors  had  retired,  brandy  and 
soda,  hock  and  champagne  made  an  appearance,  and 
the  rest  of  the  evening  was  devoted  to  convivialities 
of  a  very  noisy  nature.  We  also  celebrated  down 
in  the  "  Glory  Hole,"  I  presiding.  Lemonade  and 


1 78 


LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 


bottled  beer  were  smuggled  down  early,  and  I  in- 
vited the  boys  to  drink  to  the  health  of  the  stars  and 
stripes,  which  they  heartily  responded  to  with  three 
cheers  for  "Yank." 

The  next  morning  we  sighted  Cape  Guardafui, 
the  first  land  we  had  seen  in  twenty  days,  after 
traversing  nearly  six  thousand  miles.  The  coast-line 
here  is  very  bold  and  rugged,  abounding  with  danger- 
ous rocks,  to  which  we  gave  a  wide  berth.  The 
natives  are  said  to  be  very  savage  and  carnivorously 
disposed,  hence  our  anxiety  to  keep  a  respectful  dis- 
tance. To-day  I  picked  up  a  letter  written  by  one 
of  the  children,  who  is  on  her  way  to  England  to 
visit  her  grandparents ;  it  is  written  to  her  mother 
in  Australia.  As  she  [could  not  mail  it  I  kept  it, 
out  of  curiosity;  it  is  unique  in  its  way,  so  I  will 
copy  it  here  : 

"Near  the  Red  Sea,  July  5,  1881. 
"Mv  DEAR  MAMMA: 

"  We  have  such  funny  cabins  to  sleep  in,  you 
have  to  hold  on  or  else  you  fall  out.  They  have  a 
signal-light  on  board,  so  if  anybody  fell  over,  they 
could  see  the  life  buoy.  We  had  a  dance  last  night, 


A    TRAMP   AROUND   THE   WOULD'  179 

it  was  very  nice ;  we  had  a  polka,  a  shotece  (schot- 
tische)  and  a  walse.  It  was  too  roly  to  walse,  so 
we  left  off,  then  sang  'God  save  the  Queen.'  We 
went  to  bed  after  that. 


SEVENTEENTH  EXTRACT. 

JULY  loth.  To-day  we  sighted  Aden,  the 
coaling  port  of  the  Arabian  shore  for  the  Penin- 
sular and  Orient  boats,  but  as  we  coal  at  Port  Said, 
do  not  stop  here. 

JULY  nth.  To-day  we  entered  the  Red  Sea 
through  Bab-el-Mandeb  or  "  Gates  of  Hell."  It  is 
fearfully  hot  and  this  afternoon  I  took  a  salt-water 
bath  in  the  bath-room.  I  found  the  water  very 
buoyant  but  extremely  salty. 

"JULY  1 2th.  This  morning  passed  wreck  of 
the  "  Duke  of  Lancaster,"  beached  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  and  a  little  further  on  that  of  the  "  Penguin," 
standing  upright  high  and  dry  in  the  sand ;  it  is  a 
sad  and  impressive  sight  to  see  these  deserted  ves- 
sels, away  off  on  this  inhospitable  coast.  We  are 
drawing  very  near  to  Suez  and  expect  to  enter  the 
canal  in  a  day  or  two. 


A    1RAMP    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  l8l 

JULY  1 5th.  To-day  we  entered  the  Great 
Canal ;  the  entrance  is  close  to  the  Government 
building  which  is  composed  of  stone.  We  proceed 
very  slowly,  only  five  miles  an  hour.  At  night  we 
made  fast  to  the  second  station,  vessels  not  being 
allowed  to  go  on  after  dark.  In  company  with  some 
of  the  boys,  I  went  in  swimming  after  eight  bells 
and  swam  over  to  Arabian  and  African  shores, 
where  I  landed  and  took  a  run  along  the  sandy  beach. 
The  current  is  very  strong  in  the  canal,  running 
fully  six  miles  an  hour. 

We  arrived  at  Port  Said  early  Sunday  morning 
and  were  greeted  by  a  big  crowd  of  natives  who 
flocked  around  the  vessel  offering  their  wares.  We 
also  took  on  560  tons  of  coal  inside  three  hours;  this 
place  and  Singapore  are  considered  the  two  fastest 
coaling  stations  in  the  world.  We  left  Port  Said  in 
the  afternoon  and  entered  the  Mediteranean  Sea, 
which  I  gazed  upon  for  the  first  time.  Towards 
evening  we  passed  very  close  to  Alexandria  and  saw 
the  lights  of  the  port. 

JULY  i  gth.  Passed  the  Island  of  Crete  at  six 
o'clock  this  morning,  noted  as  the  place  where  Saint 


I#2  LEAVES    FROM    A    DIARY. 

Paul  is -said  to  have  been  wrecked  on  his  voyage  to 
Rome.  Towards  dark  passed  Mount  ./Etna,  and  at 
10.30  p.  m.  entered,  the  Straits  of  Messina.  The 
night  was  beautifully  clear  and  warm ;  did  not  retire 
until  we  had  passed  Stromboli  at  i  a.  m. 

JULY  2.ist.  Naples  at  last:  The  bay  is  .very  fine 
but  somehow  I  cannot  enthuse  over  it  quite  as  much  as 
did  Byron.  The  view  from  Mount  Vesuvius  must  be 
magnificent;  regretted  my  inability  to  indulge  in  the 
experiment  Toward  night  the  blue  devils  danced 
gayly  as  they  issued  from  the  mouth  of  the  crater  ;  the 
effect  from  our  position  in  the  bay  being  wierdly  pic^ 
ttiresque.  • 

JULY  22d.  Left  Naples  this  morning,  do  not 
stop  again  until  we  reach  Plymouth,  our  next  port  of 
call.  Passed  the. Island  of  Sardinia,  but  too  early  to 
see  anything  and  in  fact  too  far  off  for  any  practical 
use. 

-  JULY  25th.  Early  this  morning  passed  Cape 
de  Gata  and  at  five  o'clock -sighted.  Gibraltar.  I 
gazed  on  the  huge  mass  of  rock  with  peculiar  feelings 
as  I  reflected  on  its  past  history.  The  main  rock 
rises  abruptly  out  of  the  sea  and  has  .two  peaks,  on 


A   TRAMP  AROUND   THE   WORLD.  1^3 

the  highest  of  which  I  could  plainly  see  a  signal 
station.  The  sides  slope  down  and  appeared  to  be 
thickly  settled  with  dwelling-houses. 

JULY  26th.  Passed  Cape  de  St.  Vincent  at  ten 
4his  morning,  and  at  seven  in  the  evening  passed 
Lisbon  ;  could  see  nothing  but  a  few  scattered  lights 
however.  Water  getting  more  choppy  as  we  ap- 
proach the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Passed  Cape  Finisterre 
at  8:30  p.  m.  and  entered  the  Bay  of  Biscay  at  mid- 
night. 

We  had  a  quick  trip  across  to  Plymouth  and 
nothing  of  interest  occurred  beyond  the  death  of  a 
man  in  the  steerage,  who  was  buried  just  abreast  of 
the  Island  of  Ushant.  Passed  the  new  Eddystone 
Lighthouse  just  before  dark  and  dropped  anchor  at 
eight  o'clock  in  the  bay  at  Plymouth.  We  had  a 
pleasant  trip  up  the  English  Channel,  passengers  all 
disembarking  at  Gravesend,  after  scattering  largesse 
among  the  stewards.  This  latter  was  an  English 
habit  I  was  quickly  initiated'  into  and  found  it  a  most 
commendable  practice  so  long  as  I  was  the  recipient ; 
I  found  it  quite  a  bore  later  on. 

At    the   Roval  Albert  Dock   in   London  I  said 


1 84  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

farewell  to  my  messmates  and  in  the  afternoon 
received  my  certificate  of  discharge  and  account  of 
wages,  which  were  given  me  at  the  Mercantile 
Marine  Office  at  the  Victoria  Docks.  Some  day  I 
intend  having  both  documents  framed  and  hang  them 
in  a  cabinet  along  with  several  other  souvenirs. 

Prior  to  leaving  Australia,  I  had  written  home, 
via  San  Francisco,  to  send  all  mail  in  care  of  the 
American  Exchange;  so  that  my  first  visit  was  direc- 
ted there  in  the  Strand,  where  I  registered  and  was 
fortunate  enough  to  receive  several  Chicago  letters. 

Next  day  i  met  two  or  three  Chicago  gentlemen 
at  the  Exchange,  among  others  the  well-known  cor- 
respondent of  a  leading  Chicago  paper,  who  with  his 
son  gave  me  a  cordial  invitation  to  call  at  their  head- 
quarters close  by.  I  also  met  several  Board  of  Trade 
men  whom  I  knew  in  Chicago,  one  a  very  near  friend 
to  whom  I  had  said  good-bye  in  San  Francisco  a  year 
previous.  He,  with  his  wife,  was  then  starting  on  a 
tour  of  the  world,  and  left  for  Japan  the  week  prior 
to  my  starting  for  Sandwich  Islands.  The  meeting 
was  a  very  pleasant  one  and  over  a  charming  little 


A    TRAMP   AROUND    1HE    WORLD.  185 

dinner  at   the   Buckingham   Palace   Hotel,   we   ex- 
changed a  few  notes  on  our  year's  travels. 

Next  day  I  took  a  trip  down  to  Brighton  on  the 
coast  and  had  a  nice  surf  bath,  which  set  me  to  re- 
viewing the  different  waters  I  had  bathed  in:  Atlan- 
tic, Pacific  and  Indian  oceans ;  Australian  and  New 
Zealand  waters ;  Red  Sea  and  Suez  Canal,  and  the 
great  Salt  Lake  at  Utah  I  counted  as  among  the 
waters  I  had  laved  in,  which  I  considered  a  goodly 
showing  for  a  comparatively  young  traveler.  Nile 
water  I  have  drunk  and  like  very  much,  but  to  bathe 
in  the  waters  of  the  Congo  river  is  ever  my  pet 
ambition. 

Of  course  I  visited  Westminster  Abbey,  the 
Tower  of  London,  British  Museum  and  National 
Art  Gallery  while  in  London;  for  although  I  was 
in  haste  to  get  back  to  Chicago,  the  reputation  of 
these  places  is  world-wide,  and  I  had  long  antici- 
pated paying  them  a  visit. 

I  celebrated  my  twenty-first  birth-day  by  par- 
ticipating in  a  pic-nic  excursion  to  old  Epping 
Forest  in  the  county  of  Essex,  situated  in  the  suburbs 
of  East  London  and  renowned  as  the  country  resi- 


j36  LEAVES    FROM   A    DIARY. 

dencc  of  Bluff  King  Hal.  Everything  was  chat- 
mingly  English,  and  the  quaint  old  driver  with  his 
rosy-tipped  nose,  who  drove  us  there>  was  the  living 
prototype  of  Dickens' '."  Tony  Veller."  Indeed  I 
fairly  revelled  in  Dickens'  characters  all  the  while  I 
was  in  London. 

The  three  weeks  I  spent  in  London  and  its 
suburbs  were  full  of  interest  to  me  and  I  should 
like  to  have  extended  my  visit,  but  the  Atlantic 
was  still  to  be  crossed,  and  I  had  to  take  my  chances 
at  Liverpool  for  a  ship,  but  of  this  I  had  little  fear, 
as  one  of  my  passengers  from  Sydney,  who  had 
taken  a  sea-voyage  for  his  health,  was  the  manager 
of  a  line  of  steamers  running  between  Liverpool  and 
Montreal  and  had  promised  to  help  me  to  a  berth. 

I  arrived  at  Liverpool  at  eight  in  the  evening 
and  early  next  morning  repaired  to  the  office  of 
the  company,  managed  by  my  "  Chimborazo  "  ac- 
quaintance. By  a  great  stroke  of  fortune,  one  of 
his  ships  was  to  leave  that  very  day,  having  been 
delayed  by  bad  weather  for  nearly  ten  hours.  -  I 
was  given'  a  note  to  her  captain  ;  at  ten  o'clock  had 
signed  papers,  and  at  noon  we  were  steaming  down 


A    TRAMP   AROUND    THE    WORLD.  187 

the  Mersey,  en  route  for  Quebec  and  Montreal. 

I  had  a  very  easy  time  on  the  "  Winnipeg," 
but  it  was  simply  because  of  the  contrast  between 
that  and  my  billet  on  the  "  Chimborazo,"  as  I  was 
still  very  busy  and  found  my  time  well  occupied. 
We  only  had  about  thirty  saloon  passengers  and  car- 
ried but  a  few  in  the  steerage. 

The  first  week  out  we  met  with  strong  head 
winds  and  experienced  pretty  rough  and  rolling 
weather,  but  on  the  second  Sunday  we  struck  a  per- 
fect day,  and  all  the  passengers  were  on  deck  enjoy- 
ing the  beautiful  weather.  The  sun  shone  grandly, 
while  the  old  ocean  was  as  calm  and  peaceful  as  an 
artificial  lake,  not  a  white-cap  being  visible  to  the 
eye. 

We  passed  through  a  very  thick  fog  as  we 
entered  the  straits  of  Labrador  and  were  obliged  to 
run  at  half-speed  until  it  lifted.  Fortunately  this  was 
all  the  hazy  weather  we  met  with,  so  that  our  voyage 
was  not  delayed  much  by  the  vexatious  fogs  which 
are  so  prevalent  in  these  regions. 

On  Monday  early  we  entered  St.  Lawrence  river, 
nine  days  from  Liverpool,  and  at  Father  Point  took 


jgg  LEAVES    FROM   A   DIARY. 

on  our  pilot,  anchoring  at  Point  Levi,  Quebec,  just 
before  midnight.  Next  day  was  spent  in  discharging 
part  of  the  cargo,  but  we  finally  left  for  Montreal 
tarly  Wednesday  morning,  arriving  at  the  latter 
place  on  the  day  following. 

From  Montreal  I  went  to  New  York  and  from 
thence  to  Chicago,  arriving  home  after  an  absence 
of  sixteen  months,  having  about  half  the  capital  I 
started  with ;  a  record  of  about  forty  thousand 
miles  of  travel,  which  my  readers  can  judge  for  them- 
selves, whether  or  not,  was  full  of  adventure — and 
above  all  throughly  convinced  that  America  is  the. 
country  of  all  countries  to  live  in  and  Chicago  the 
champion  city  of  the  world. 


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